Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff wins plurality in re-election bid, but will face runoff vote

(Image credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images)

last updated 8 January 2015

No candidate got more than 50 percent in Sunday's Brazilian presidential election. So in an Oct. 26 runoff vote, Brazilian voters will decide between leftist President Dilma Rousseff, who drew 41.5 percent in the first round, and Aecio Neves, a conservative economist and governor, who got a stronger-than-expected 33.6 percent. Former Environment Minister Marina Silva, who led Rousseff in the polls by double digits six weeks ago, garnered only 21 percent.

Silva was the vice presidential candidate on the Brazilian Socialist Party ticket with Eduardo Campos, until Campos died in an Aug. 13 plane crash. Rousseff, of the Workers' Party, cut down Silva's lead with a barrage of negative ads. Neves is the flag-bearer of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), which held the presidency from 1995 to 2002, and the grandson of a well-regarded politician from the 1980s. Either Rousseff or Neves could win the run-off.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.