Flávio Bolsonaro wins Augusto Cury’s endorsement for Brazil runoff

Flávio Bolsonaro won the endorsement of third-place candidate Augusto Cury on Thursday, October 8, for Brazil’s October 25 presidential runoff against President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Cury received 2.89% of valid votes in the first round, according to Reuters. His backing adds to Bolsonaro’s support in a close race, but it does not show how Cury’s voters will cast their ballots.

Cury announced his decision in a video shown during Bolsonaro’s weekly livestream, Reuters reported. ‘In this second round I decided to give a vote of confidence to Flávio Bolsonaro,’ Cury said, according to Reuters’ account of his remarks in Portuguese. He also said his support was ‘not a blank check,’ a qualification reported by both Reuters and France 24.

What Augusto Cury asked of Flávio Bolsonaro

Cury and Bolsonaro spoke earlier on Thursday, Reuters reported. Cury presented a commitment document covering issues important to him, and Bolsonaro said he accepted it. During the livestream, Bolsonaro said he had signed the commitment and would continue pursuing it. The retained reporting does not establish the document’s full text or a mechanism for enforcing its promises.

The topics reported by Reuters included ending presidential reelection, a position it said Bolsonaro already supported, and avoiding ‘revenge’ against people with different political positions. Those details show the terms Cury publicly attached to his endorsement. They do not establish whether any proposed change will be adopted after the election.

How close was Brazil’s first round?

Bolsonaro won 47.03% of valid votes in the October 4 first round, compared with 45.16% for Lula and 2.89% for Cury, according to Reuters. The Associated Press reported that Bolsonaro led Lula by about 2.2 million votes. Neither finalist won an absolute majority, sending the election to a runoff scheduled for October 25.

The first-round result makes voters who chose other candidates a focus for both campaigns. AP reported that those candidates collectively received about 9 million votes. That total describes the potential pool of voters the finalists may seek to persuade; it is not a count of votes that either candidate has gained through endorsements.

Cury is not the only former rival to back Bolsonaro. Reuters reported that Ronaldo Caiado, a former Goiás governor, and Romeu Zema, a former Minas Gerais governor, had endorsed him earlier in the week after finishing fifth and sixth. AP reported that three of the ten other first-round candidates had said they would support neither finalist.

What the campaigns face before October 25

Turnout is another factor the campaigns are examining. AP reported first-round abstention of 21.08%, representing more than 33.4 million voters and the highest rate in 28 years. Voting is compulsory in Brazil, although an unjustified absence carries a small fine. The abstention figure does not show how those voters would choose between Lula and Bolsonaro.

Lula’s campaign has outlined changes after the first-round result. Edinho Silva, chairman of Lula’s Workers’ Party, told AP that the campaign would review regional turnout, refine its message and redirect resources toward battleground states. He also said debates would matter. Those plans indicate where Lula’s team intends to compete before the runoff.

France 24 reported a Datafolha poll putting Bolsonaro at 52% and Lula at 48% on Thursday. Lula downplayed polls at a press conference, saying he needed more votes than Bolsonaro to win and had 17 days to do it. A poll is a measure of opinion at the time it was taken, rather than a result of the October 25 vote.

The endorsement settles Cury’s public choice between the finalists, but leaves the central electoral question open. No cited reporting establishes that his supporters will follow him. Voters will decide the runoff on October 25; the commitment Cury presented also remains to be tested against any later actions.