President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced that he will once again run for President in the 2026 election, saying he has the energy to mount another campaign despite approaching his 80th birthday.
“I’m turning 80, but you can be sure I have the same energy I had when I was 30. And I’m going to run for a fourth term in Brazil,” Lula told reporters during a joint news conference with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto in Jakarta, Indonesia, where the Brazilian leader is on a diplomatic trip.
Brazil’s constitution bars presidents from serving more than two consecutive terms, but allows nonconsecutive returns. Lula, a founder of the leftist Workers’ Party who served two terms from 2003-2010 and returned to the presidency in 2023 after 13 years out of power, is eligible to run again.
Lula’s popularity on the rise in Brazil ahead of 2026 election
Lula made clear during the trip that he plans to press his political advantage at home even as he tends to a packed foreign schedule. He is expected to travel to Malaysia for an ASEAN summit, where Brazilian media reported he will meet U.S. President Donald Trump for the first time in person following a conciliatory call earlier this month.
Trump’s decision to impose a 50% tariff on Brazilian goods in August helped revive Lula’s standing in opinion polls, aides and analysts say, and Lula currently leads early matchups for 2026 even as roughly half of voters disapprove of his performance.
The former union leader has faced questions about his fitness for another term after emergency surgery last year to treat a brain bleed following a fall. Lula has repeatedly sought to assuage concerns, posting videos of his workouts and insisting he remains fit and energetic.
Brazil’s political landscape remains highly polarized
Not everyone is convinced the vote will be straightforward. Analysts say Brazil’s political landscape remains polarized and the right is fractured after former President Jair Bolsonaro was barred from running and sentenced to 27 years in prison for his role in attempting a coup. A viable challenger on the right has not yet emerged, and analysts say such a candidate’s fortunes may hinge on Bolsonaro’s backing while he serves under house arrest.
Lula’s political allies sounded upbeat. Fernando Morais, a biographer and friend of the president, praised Lula’s stamina and predicted he would win if the election were held today. Others cautioned that the campaign could be hard-fought. “The election is still completely open,” said Celso Rocha de Barros, who recently wrote about the Workers’ Party, noting a likely close contest if the São Paulo governor and former Bolsonaro minister Tarcisio de Freitas becomes the standard-bearer of the right.
Lula had previously said his 2022 campaign would be his last, citing his age and a belief that Brazil needed political renewal. But he began hinting during his current term that he might run again, saying in 2023 his decision would depend on the political context and his health. If reelected and if he serves the full term, Lula would extend an extraordinary political career as he would be one of the country’s longest-serving democratically elected presidents, with a combined 16 years in office.