Brazil heads for election runoff with Bolsonaro in the lead

The conservative challenger is the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, who was banned from running after leading a coup attempt. Brazil’s presidential election will go to a runoff on Oct. 25, after conservative challenger Flávio Bolsonaro unexpectedly emerged as the favorite in the first-round vote. Polls seesawed in the runup to the election as both Bolsonaro — whose father was banned from running after having led a coup attempt — and left-wing incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva traded corruption allegations, a key issue that defined the race. A Bolsonaro win would confirm Latin America’s shift to the right: The seven most recent elections there have all been won by conservative candidates, most of them friendly to the Trump administration and its ambition of reasserting hegemonic power in the region to counter China’s growing influence.