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Bolsonaro Election Effect Turns Brazil’s Congress on Its Head

  • Bolsonaro’s PSL Party Jumps from 8 to 52 in Lower House
  • Haddad’s Leftist Workers’ Party Loses Seats in Both Houses
Jair Bolsonaro, presidential candidate for the Social Liberal Party, waves as he leaves a polling station after casting his ballot during the first round of presidential elections in Rio de Janeiro on Oct. 7, 2018.

Jair Bolsonaro, presidential candidate for the Social Liberal Party, waves as he leaves a polling station after casting his ballot during the first round of presidential elections in Rio de Janeiro on Oct. 7, 2018.

Photographer: Dado Galdieri/Bloomberg
Updated on

The forces that drove former Army captain Jair Bolsonaro to take an overwhelming lead in the first round of Brazil’s presidential election also turned the country’s Congress upside down. Bolsonaro’s party, the PSL, jumped from eight seats to 52 in the lower house, while the Workers’ Party of Fernando Haddad, the runner-up, lost five seats to 56.

At the same time, some of the most senior lawmakers -- several of them who had been investigated for corruption -- have been ousted. Senator Romero Juca, who has been in his post for over 23 years and served as government leader under four governments, lost his seat in the upper house.