2006 Brazilian general election

General elections were held in Brazil on 1 October 2006 to elect the president, National Congress and state governors, with a second round of the presidential election on 29 October as no candidate received more than 50% of the vote in the first round.

Then-President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was running for re-election against São Paulo Governor Geraldo Alckmin.

Though Lula was expected to win in the first round with a large majority, the President only won 48.7% to Alckmin's 41.6%, causing a second round of voting. Despite becoming popular because of his Bolsa Família program, Lula da Silva's popularity shrank because of the scandal Dossiergate which involved his party's leadership. This allowed Alckmin to increase his popularity in the polls in the weeks before the runoff. However, Lula won in a landslide in the second round with 60.83%, with Alckmin winning 39.17%, a lower vote percentage than he did in the first round. 

References

Category:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Category:2006 elections
Category:2000s in Brazil
Category:Brazilian general elections
Category:2006 in South America