Main takes of the first round of Brazilian elections

With the election results decided, we can now draw some conclusions after Sunday’s vote – even if, at this point, it is hard to benefit from hindsight. Here are the main takes of Brazil’s 2018 elections:

Supercharged anti-establishment sentiment

For so long, Brazilians have been really pissed off at the country’s political system. But every four years, the same old names would get elected – thanks to their tight grip on the political apparatus. Social media has shattered that dominance of old establishment names, and many candidates thought to be sure lock-ins in their races ended up losing.

In 2013, millions of Brazilians took to the streets and asked for change – but the political class shrugged. Five years later, the backlash came. On the left, maintaining former president Lula as the single reference proved to be detrimental, as he draws as much rejection as support. On the right, insisting on conducting ‘business as usual’ proved to be a massive mistake.

Names such as incumbent senators Romero Jucá, Eunício Oliveira, Edison Lobão will not renew their terms in 2019. For them, that could prove worse than just losing power – as they face many corruption investigations and could end up in jail once they lose legal benefits enjoyed by members of the Parliament.

To the left, names such as former Senator Eduardo Suplicy and Dilma Rousseff...