Nearly four decades after Lula’s first run for the Brazilian presidency, his name will appear on the ballot for a seventh time on October 4 as he aims to win a fourth term at the helm of Latin America’s largest economy. This is despite a promise that his third tenure would be his last. Although Lula vowed to step aside and allow for “the emergence of new leaders” on the left, he now looks like the only presidential candidate who might beat far-right rival Flavio Bolsonaro – the eldest son of Jair, who is currently serving a 27-year prison sentence for attempting a coup.
Polls show Lula and Flavio Bolsonaro neck-and-neck in a race that has seen other candidates sidelined. Read moreLula and Bolsonaro’s mudslinging heats up ahead of weekend vote Throughout his campaign Lula, who will turn 81 on October 27, has tried to reassure voters that his age should not count against him. But he has also promised – and this time “for real” – that if Brazilians elect him on Sunday it will be his last term.
On the campaign trail Lula has relied on a previous successful tactic: showing solidarity with Brazil’s working class. Born into a poor family in Brazil’s northeastern Pernambuco state, Lula spent his childhood working as a shoe-shiner and courier in Sao Paulo before training as a lathe operator. He rose through the ranks of the factory workers’ labour unions and became one of the faces of the largescale metalworkers strikes in Sao Paulo in the late 70s during the final years of Brazil’s military dictatorship.
In Brazil, “politics goes beyond a partisan framework,” said Marcia Dias, director of the school of political science at Rio de Janeiro’s Federal University of the State. In his first campaign speech he leaned heavily on his “working-class roots”, paying tribute to his mother and speaking at length about his years as a trade unionist. In front of the crowd there to support him, Lula also referenced his 2026 treatment for early-stage skin cancer on his scalp.
Lula walks amid confetti during a campaign rally at 1º de Mayo municipal stadium in Sao Bernardo do Campo on August 16, 2026. © Miguel Schincariol, The perennial leader of the Brazilian left has an unusually long record to draw on: few Latin American leaders have spent so long at the heart of government. His career in politics began in 1980 as one of the founders of the Workers’ Party. He first stood for the presidency in 1989, then 1994 and 1998, but failed to win.
At the time, the former union leader was viewed with suspicion by employers and some of the middle class. He knew he had to build broader alliances and change his image to succeed, which led to him adopting the nickname "Lulinha Paz e Amor"(“Little Lula peace and love”) in a bid to soften his reputation. The combative and radical trade unionist with a bushy beard soon started appearing in elegant suits and courting the private sector– and the strategy worked.
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