Alaska Republican gubernatorial candidate Bernadette Wilson said she was not surprised Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, crossed party lines to endorse her Democratic opponent in the governor's race.
Wilson told Fox News Digital that Murkowski endorsed Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins on Tuesday because the two share similar views on taxation and Alaska's oil industry.
"It should not surprise anyone. They're two peas in a pod, and I can tell you that as governor," Wilson told Fox News Digital.
"It doesn't surprise me that she is supporting the just keep taxing JKT," Wilson continued. "You know the guy that supports an increase in income tax, the guy that wants to double the fuel tax here in Alaska, the guy that has said ‘Hey I’m gonna come after the oil companies,' the guy that does not support paying out a full permanent fund dividend."
In August, during a candidate forum hosted by the Alaska Oil and Gas Association, Kreiss-Tomkins said he believes "broad-based tax and revenues of that nature are likely going to be necessary to balance our budget."
Wilson argued that Kreiss-Tomkins' economic policies align with Murkowski's, accusing both politicians of supporting what she described as "socialist policies."
The Republican candidate said she has been "sounding the alarm since 2010 about the fact that she was [subscribing] to extreme liberal socialist policies," referring to Murkowski.
Wilson also said she would not "assign motive" to Murkowski's decision to endorse Kreiss-Tomkins, though she did not rule out the possibility that the endorsement was intended as a rebuke of President Donald Trump.
Murkowski has opposed several legislative priorities backed by Trump during the 119th Congress, including the SAVE America Act, which would impose additional proof-of-citizenship requirements for voter registration.
In an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal in July, Murkowski wrote that "as written, the SAVE America Act isn’t a simple fix to safeguard elections, as proponents claim. It would impose costly new barriers and prevent some, perhaps many, from voting, while also creating chaos before the November elections."
In January, Murkowski joined Senate Democrats in voting in favor of the War Powers Resolution, which failed but could have limited Trump’s ability to take military action against Iran.
The president then took to Truth Social to state that Murkowski "should never be elected to office again."
If elected governor, Wilson pledged in her video interview that she would continue to "sound the alarm" about Murkowski, whom she described as a "so-called Republican senator."
The candidate also characterized Murkowski's political positions as "absolutely terrible."
In the American political scene dominated by the GOP-Democrat duopoly, Libertarians like Kentucky congressional candidate Jeremy Todd are looking to offer voters an alternative as they head to the polls during the midterm elections.
"I think ultimately the Republican Party has abandoned… true conservatism, small government principles," Todd told Fox News Digital this week, asserting that "they may be more conservative than Democrats, but, to us true conservatives, that's not good enough."
Todd, who views himself as "right of MAGA," mounted his long-shot U.S. House bid after Rep. Thomas Massie lost the Republican primary in Kentucky's 4th Congressional District to Trump-backed former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein. Democratic congressional candidate Melissa Strange is also running in the contest.
"We are welcoming people who are conservative, who believe in small, limited government, to my campaign and then to a larger movement that is probably gonna need to exist post the downfall of the Republican Party," Todd said.
Former National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent, who quit his post earlier this year due to his opposition to the Iran war, and former Rep. Ron Paul, have both backed Todd.
In a Pew Research survey of U.S. adults released earlier this month, 5% of registered voters indicated that they would vote for another candidate other than the GOP and Democratic candidates in the U.S. House race in their district, while 15% were not sure about how they would vote. The poll, carried out Sept. 28-Oct. 4, had a margin of error among registered voters of plus or minus 1.8 percentage points.
Todd is not the only Libertarian running this election cycle looking to make an impact — but no candidate running under the Libertarian Party has ever been elected to the U.S. Congress.
Former Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan, who switched from Republican to Independent and then to Libertarian during his final term, became "the first LP member to serve in Congress," according to the Libertarian National Committee — but Amash, who served in the House for a decade, won all of his elections as a Republican.
Libertarian candidate Ted Brown is on the ballot for the 2026 Texas U.S. Senate race that features Trump-backed state Attorney General Ken Paxton and Democratic state Rep. James Talarico.
Brown earned only about 2.36% of the vote in the 2024 Texas U.S. Senate contest won by incumbent GOP Sen. Ted Cruz. He dismissed the criticism he says he gets regularly from Republicans that he is merely spoiling Paxton’s chances.
"They could avoid that problem by nominating a better candidate," Brown said, noting that he delivers the same message to Democrats.
"You can’t spoil a system that’s already rotten," Brown stated. "There are a lot of people making a protest vote, and there’s good reason to."
Bill Redpath, a former Libertarian National Committee (LNC) chair who is currently listed as an at-large LNC representative, is running in the special Ohio U.S. Senate race where Trump-backed Republican Sen. Jon Husted faces former Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat.
Todd, while speaking to Fox News Digital, urged voters not to "buy into the lesser of two evils talk. Make sure you get out there and vote and give us a real shot because we can win this."
Todd, who supports Massie's bid to impeach War Secretary Pete Hegseth and the congressman's push to pass the Epstein Files Transparency Act II, is a fiscal hawk who advocates slashing government spending to address the much-discussed "affordability" issue.
"The affordability crisis is not a hoax," he said, suggesting that younger individuals particularly face this "stark reality."
"The only answer is we've got to cut government spending so that we stop money printing, so that we stop debasing and devaluing the currency and their wages have an opportunity to catch up. That's ultimately what's happening is we're printing money faster than wages can keep up with and it's kind of left an entire generation behind to the benefit of asset holders," Todd said.
"The easiest way you can cut government spending is get out of these stupid conflicts. We should not be paying billions of dollars to Ukraine to fight Russia. We should not be paying billions of dollars to come to Israel's defense," Todd asserted. "And last but not least, we should get out of this conflict in Iran. Just leave."
In a Sunday post on X, Todd called President Donald Trump "a warmonger."
During the Fox News Digital interview, Todd credited Trump with forging "the greatest coalition we've maybe ever seen in politics," noting that Trump delivered a speech at the Libertarian National Convention in 2024 to appeal to the voting bloc.
"We believe that the job of the United States military is not to wage endless regime-change wars around the globe," Trump told that Libertarian gathering in 2024, but "to defend America from attack and invasion here at home."
Todd said since delivering that speech, Trump has gone "back on all but essentially one of the promises, which is border security."
"We've not gotten deportations to the level that we wanted. We've gotten into another stupid and maybe the biggest and most ridiculous Middle Eastern conflict," Todd said.
The White House did not respond to Fox News Digital's requests for comment.
In a statement provided to Fox News Digital, Republican National Committee national press secretary Natalie Baldassarre declared, "President Trump has endorsed Ed Gallrein, a Navy SEAL and fifth-generation farmer who will represent the needs of working families in Congress. Republicans are focused on electing America First Republicans in Kentucky and around the country."
Trump, who has been traveling to various states to campaign for Republican candidates amid midterm election season, rallied in Kentucky's 4th Congressional District earlier this month, blasting Massie as "the worst."
Fox News Digital reached out to Massie to find out whether he'll vote in the congressional race, and, if so, how he will cast his ballot.
"I won't be voting for the AIPAC candidate," Massie tersely texted Fox News Digital, referring to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
Reports indicate that millions in AIPAC-linked funds were poured into the primary, with The New York Times saying, "This year, one of the group’s most high-profile wins was the ouster of Mr. Massie, a seven-term congressman who has called for ending military aid to Israel."
AIPAC did not provide comment to Fox News Digital for this report.
The Gallrein campaign responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on Massie with the following statement: "It is tragically fitting that his last act as congressman would be to once again, turn his back on his district and his party by siding with radical Democrats. This is exactly why voters fired him in May."
In an interview with a local news station, Todd said he would never run against Massie, but now, he’s "running for him."
TEXAS — Gas prices are soaring ahead of the midterm elections, but President Donald Trump's supporters at campaign rallies in Texas say the rising costs aren't shaking their loyalty to the president, with some warning that the country's future is at stake.
"I do experience that costs are high, but I'm in for the long haul and I support everything that he's been doing," one supporter told Fox News Digital at Trump's rally in Lubbock, Texas.
Fox News Digital spoke with Trump supporters at rallies in Lubbock and Corpus Christi, two cities in a state deeply tied to America's oil and gas industry where voters acknowledged the economic squeeze but remained firmly behind the president. For some, concerns about the country's future and the rise of socialism are adding urgency to the approaching election.
The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline stood at approximately $4.25 on Wednesday, up nearly 40% from roughly $3.05 a year earlier, according to AAA.
Trump acknowledged the higher costs during his Lubbock rally while pointing to increased American oil production and his administration's recent energy deal with Venezuela as steps toward bringing prices down.
"Our country is making a fortune while people have to pay more at the pump," Trump said, adding that gas prices are "going to come down really fast."
"The ones we care about are our people at the pump," Trump told the crowd. "And those numbers are going to start coming down very, very rapidly."
During his earlier stop in Corpus Christi, Trump announced the arrival of the first million barrels of Venezuelan oil secured through an agreement with the South American country, which the White House says is being provided at no cost to American taxpayers and will be refined in Texas.
The administration has touted the agreement as a major step toward expanding America's energy supply and supporting domestic jobs, arguing that the additional oil will eventually help lower costs for consumers.
The White House said the broader agreement would give the U.S. majority control over approximately 65 billion barrels of proven Venezuelan oil reserves, expanding American access to energy resources as Trump pushes to boost supply and bring down prices.
Stephen Elsher of Corpus Christi said the economy remains his top concern heading into the midterms, but he believes Republicans are the ones who can turn things around.
"I'd like to see it turn around and do better for this next year," Elsher told Fox News Digital. "Without the Republicans in charge, we won't go that direction."
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party has faced growing pressure from its progressive wing, with democratic socialist candidates gaining prominence and sparking debate over the party's direction.
Trump repeatedly warned voters against what he described as the "radical left Democrat communist" agenda during his Lubbock rally, arguing that Democratic policies would raise taxes, threaten Texas oil and gas jobs, and weaken border security.
"The choice in this election is very simple," Trump told supporters, contrasting his economic agenda with what he described as the consequences of Democratic control.
For some Trump supporters at the Texas rallies, concerns go beyond affordability, with attendees warning that the rise of socialism poses a threat to the country's future.
"We can't lose our republic," Susie, a Corpus Christi supporter, told Fox News Digital, warning that the country is under siege by Democrats, socialists and communists.
Elizabeth Trigo, who attended Trump's Lubbock rally with her daughters, said the midterms are about more than just the next election, pointing to the country's future and preserving opportunities for the next generation.
"I think the main reason this election, the midterms, is a lot of it has to do with the future," Trigo told Fox News Digital. "The most important thing is opportunity again. Trump is on the side of opportunity."
Trigo said she wants Trump to continue fighting the war on drugs and pushing back against socialism during his remaining two years in office.
The investigation into whether Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., married her brother in an alleged immigration fraud scheme in 2009 began under former President Barack Obama in 2016, Fox News Digital has confirmed.
A U.S. Attorney in Minnesota, appointed by then-President Joe Biden, eventually shut down the probe in 2021, a source familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital.
Now, the issue has been thrust back into the spotlight as part of a new federal investigation into the Somali-born congresswoman, part of which centers on whether she or her father committed immigration fraud on her application to become a U.S. citizen.
Sources previously told Fox News Digital that Omar's "real name" is Ilhan Nur Said Elmi. In a federal court document, she was called "Ilhan Omar Nur Said Elmi, a/k/a Ilhan Omar."
In 2009, Omar, then a U.S. citizen, legally married a man with that surname, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi. The pair officially split in 2017.
The New York Times first reported that Obama's FBI and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) began the probe in the summer of 2016, and that officials "found some evidence that [the marriage] was fraudulent." The Times reported that the investigation concluded when officials decided the potential felony crime was past the statute of limitations.
Despite his own administration's investigation into Omar at the time she was running for the Minnesota House, Obama condemned the renewed probe, which included a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) raid on her Washington, D.C. home on Oct. 12. Federal authorities confiscated her passport, personal phone and computer in the raid.
"It is a basic principle of American democracy that the government can’t selectively target individuals simply because of their political beliefs or what they say," Obama wrote in an X post after the raid earlier this month. "But that’s exactly what the Trump Administration is doing to Congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota."
Obama claimed the Trump administration was targeting Omar because she is a vocal critic of the current president.
"Think about that," Obama said in the post. "The full weight of the federal government is being brought down on a law-abiding elected official because she has dared to criticize the president."
Omar has frequently called the allegations that she married her brother a conspiracy theory promulgated by the political right, including in a statement to Fox News Digital regarding the new investigation last week.
"Rep. Omar has repeatedly and unequivocally denied this baseless, disgusting conspiracy theory," an Omar spokesperson said. "This is a desperate political smear designed to distract from Trump’s failed presidency and two years of Republican failure in Congress. And it’s disgraceful that the media continues to give this lie oxygen."
The same spokesperson this morning doubled down on the claim that the current investigation is a "political vendetta against one of Trump's most visible critics," and said that the 2016 investigation was "rejected for a lack of evidence," contrary to the New York Times report that it was closed due to the statute of limitations.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., rejected a question from CNN chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju about seating newly elected Democrats as a "nonsense narrative."
While campaigning in Iowa for Republican Rep. Zach Nunn, whose seat is among those that Democrats are targeting ahead of next week's midterm elections, Johnson fielded questions from Raju about President Donald Trump and the GOP's political strategy during the elections and beyond.
"Will you vow to seat every Democrat who wins on Jan. 3?" Raju asked, referring to the day elected members will be sworn in.
"Of course, this is a nonsense narrative," Johnson replied. "We are going to follow the law."
"What if Trump says ‘it's a rigged election’?" Raju asked.
"Look, I'm a constitutional attorney. I've always been steady and consistent about this. This is going to be a no-drama swearing-in ceremony, but we're going to hold the majority, and I'm going to be the speaker of the House," Johnson said. "And when I administer the oath, there will be one on Jan. 3. We'll administer the oath to everybody."
"I'll do my job as the speaker of the House," Johnson replied. "The president has vowed, of course, he wants to follow the law as well. That's what's going to happen."
Johnson also defended Trump’s involvement in midterm races, saying he is having "no drag at all" on Republicans’ chances.
"I’ve seen the voters on the ground, and I’m telling you the polls are wrong, they are inaccurate, they’re underrepresenting Republicans and many of the pollsters have admitted that," he said. "The polling isn’t accurate, the Republicans aren’t responding anymore."
Raju challenged that assessment, questioning why Republicans were spending heavily in traditionally Republican districts.
"You're spending millions in deep Republican districts," Raju said.
Johnson responded that Iowa is a state where Republicans "always win, but it's close" and said battleground districts exist across the country, particularly following recent redistricting efforts.
"We have to win in the districts that are presented, and we’re leaving everything on the field to get it done," he said.
Mary Marslender, a GOP consultant and former senior advisor to the U.S. Senate, criticized Raju's questioning in comments to Fox News Digital.
"CNN is once again pushing a fake narrative — color me shocked. Instead of chasing a nonexistent 'Trump won’t seat Democrats' story, Manu Raju should focus on reporting the news that matters," Marslender said. "Americans are concerned about costs, wages, the border, and crime. If reporters covered those real issues, perhaps their audiences wouldn’t keep shrinking. Speaker Johnson’s answers were consistent with both the law and standard House procedure. Raju’s repeated hypotheticals reveal more about the story CNN wants to tell than any actual plan to block lawmakers."
Fox News Digital reached out to Johnson's office and CNN for additional comment but did not immediately receive responses.
Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, who lost Brazil's presidential election to leftist incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Sunday, declared himself the country's leader after arriving in Florida on Wednesday.
Bolsonaro fled his country after Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered his passports to be seized less than a day after Lula won the election.
"I want to say, not only to my 60 million voters but to the Brazilian people, that I am the leader and that the criminals who stole Brazil’s election are part of a criminal organization that has established a tyranny," he said in an open letter posted on X.
According to Reuters, Bolsonaro initially declared himself "the elected president" in a since-deleted post. He then sent out an updated letter on X, which included calling himself the rightful "leader" of Brazil.
Bolsonaro, who lost the runoff election by a 3.58% margin, was served with an order to forfeit his passports and not to leave the country on Monday.
"I was ordered right on the street to hand over my passports, and I'm also prohibited from leaving the country," Bolsonaro said, according to a Fox News Digital translation of a video he posted to his social media channels Monday.
The order was signed by de Moraes, who Bolsonaro supporters accuse of being a staunch ally of Lula.
Bolsonaro landed at Opa Locka Executive Airport just north of Miami with his family Wednesday morning after President Donald Trump granted Bolsonaro and his family visas.
When asked Wednesday if he would approve of Bolsonaro coming to the U.S. following his defeat, Trump told reporters he would, adding, "I think they’re fine people."
"The election was very strange," Trump continued. "And I thought it was terrible. It’s gotten bad reviews. You look at what happened to their market."
Brazil's stock market plummeted Monday after Lula's victory. Its benchmark index, the Ibovespa, closed down nearly 14% on the first day of post-election trading. The Brazilian real also suffered one of its steepest drops in history, losing nearly 11% of its value relative to the U.S. dollar.
Trump also said, "I didn’t take sides, but it looked like another rigged election."
Brazilian news outlet MD+ reported that Brazilian Federal Police requested Bolsonaro's passport seizure order just seven minutes after Brazil's Superior Electoral Court confirmed Lula's victory.
Bolsonaro, the son of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, initially said he would comply with the order, but ultimately chose to leave.
"I have never thought about leaving the country," Bolsonaro said in a social media video on Monday. "I will hand over my passports and defend myself against this travesty, which is a clear attempt to intimidate me."
But Bolsonaro ultimately crossed the border into Argentina, Argentina's National Directorate of Migrations confirmed, saying the Bolsonaro family entered the country "with valid travel documentation and without any legal impediment" Tuesday night. The family then crossed into Ecuador where they boarded a private plane for Florida, according to Time Magazine.
Lula called his decision to leave "a shameful act," recalling his own 2018 arrest for corruption.
Bolsonaro said the order came as a result of a social media post his brother Eduardo made in which he said Flávio should leave the country if he loses the election.
Flávio was under multiple criminal investigations for alleged money laundering, corruption and tax evasion, according to Brazilian newspaper Folha de São Paulo.
According to Reuters, Bolsonaro denied fleeing Brazil, saying he left to protect himself and his family. He said he was avoiding a witch hunt being carried out by Lula and the Brazilian Supreme Court.
"I want to make this clear: I did not flee Brazil," Bolsonaro said. "I left Brazil, but I did not abandon the Brazilian people."
On Tuesday, Brazil's Supreme Court also ordered the Federal Police to open an investigation into alleged illegal foreign funding for Bolsonaro’s presidential campaign, specifically focusing on Rockbridge Network, a conservative donor group co-founded by U.S. Vice President JD Vance.
Flavio Bolsonaro, President Lula da Silva, President Trump and Vice President JD Vance's offices did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital for comment.
As I look at a decade of coverage of the man who loves all things gold, I have to conclude that many journalists are suffering from Trump Exhaustion Syndrome.
It’s not about being physically tired, and of course there are exceptions. No, the syndrome involves throwing up your hands and abandoning basic fact-checking because, you know, they think, what the hell, everyone knows Trump says lots and lots of things that are untrue.
Much of this is tied to the surge in social media. After all, why do a second-day story analyzing what the president did or said when the hot story is Trump praising Nicki Minaj and her beautiful butt?
As for the truth-squadding part, don’t worry, I have the receipts.
The other day, the president came out and said he had ordered the Justice Department to intervene in the crazy Alaska election. It was right there. He didn’t hide it. Pronounced it out in the open.
I know the widespread belief that the department was doing his bidding — charging James Comey a third time? For younger readers, there used to be a brick wall between the White House and DOJ.
If Joe Biden had breached that wall only once, he would have been impeached, convicted and behind bars.
As a former Justice Department reporter, I can tell you that divide hasn’t been pulverized since Watergate, when AG John Mitchell went to prison.
Now a couple of the Sunday hosts, CNN’s Dana Bash and CBS’s Margaret Brennan, aggressively pressed Attorney General Todd Blanche about the controversy (two Dan Sullivans, and as the New York Times disclosed, the second guy was recruited by the Democrats).
At one point, Blanche addressed the president’s order that his department file a lawsuit.
"No, no, he didn’t say it on camera," the AG insisted. "Yes he did," Brennan shot back.
Indeed, he did. But as I looked at the major papers the next day, the press had moved on. (My apologies if I missed someone’s brilliant analysis). It was as if the story no longer existed.
That’s Trump Exhaustion Syndrome in action.
Here’s another example. Just a couple of days ago, Trump said that while he might move the press briefing room, "the old swimming pool will never be brought back. I NEVER even thought of doing such a stupid thing!"
That didn’t sound right to me, and boy was I exhausted after 20 seconds of fact-checking.
People Magazine, just last month: "As President Donald Trump fights in court to ban particular news organizations from the White House, he suggested converting the White House press briefing room back to the indoor pool built during Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s tenure in ‘The People’s House.’"
So we have a new definition of fake news: something the president used to say but has since changed his view and no longer stands by his previous position.
I want to make something clear: I am not anti-Trump. I like him personally. I’ve covered him on and off since 1987, and interviewed him six times during the 2024 campaign.
He can definitely be a charming guy in person. Most of the time, we’ve gotten along fine — he’s sent me a number of favorable notes — and sometimes, as is typical with him, not so much.
There’s a reason half the country voted for him, even if many are now unhappy about the Iran war and rising prices at the pump. My goal here is to write about press behavior.
Trump is a master media manipulator. He has known, since I was in New York writing about his exploits as a combative developer, how to distract the press from an unfavorable story, and he’s acknowledged as much to me.
When the president says "Norway sucks" and is a "s***-house country" (because he’s still ticked off about not winning the Nobel Peace Prize), he knows it will make news.
Same with his comments about Nicki Minaj’s anatomy. He understands most of the press will take the bait. Oh, and sometimes Trump just gets carried away at rallies.
I’m not saying these things don’t deserve a mention in a feature column or as a cable-show kicker, but they do tend to squeeze out other stories.
When Trump called Barack Obama "stupid"— over a joke that the White House looks like Saddam’s Cheesecake Factory — he was edging into real news.
And when he ordered the raid on Ilhan Omar’s home — abandoning the longstanding justice practice of doing nothing to influence politics in a campaign’s last 60 days — Trump created a major, important news story, no question about it.
Back in 1987, Trump told me, without being asked, that if he ran for president, he would win. I confess to having been skeptical.
Ahead of Israel’s Oct. 27 national vote, President Donald Trump issued a sweeping endorsement of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s re-election bid, calling him a "great warrior," an "even greater partner for peace" and an ally in the confrontation with Iran.
The backing could give Israel’s longest-serving prime minister a boost ahead of the country’s first national vote since the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre. The election is widely viewed in Israel as a referendum on whether to grant Netanyahu another term to pursue his war objectives, including disarming Hamas and Hezbollah and countering the nuclear threat from the Islamic Republic.
In response, Netanyahu thanked Trump for his "extraordinary endorsement." "Together we will never let Iran’s regime get nuclear weapons," he said.
Addressing the endorsement, Doron Spielman, international spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, told Fox News Digital that no personal or professional bond in the history of U.S.-Israel relations compares with the current partnership.
"Israel and the U.S. have stood together as the two countries bearing the torch for the West, and that is a direct result of the incredible relationship between President Trump and Netanyahu," he said.
He reiterated Netanyahu’s long-standing foreign-policy priority and central campaign promise: ensuring that Iran does not acquire atomic bombs under his watch.
"Israel prefers to do this with the U.S., which has been our greatest ally and friend, and who has already entered the front with us twice. But already at the time of Operation Rising Lion, Israel showed that it was willing to act alone. Israel acted for over a week before the U.S. joined," he said, in reference to the June 2025 military mission against Iran.
Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, with roughly 20 years in office, Netanyahu began his diplomatic career in 1982 as deputy chief of mission at Israel’s embassy in Washington, D.C. He served as Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations from 1984 to 1988 before entering politics with Likud. He became the party’s chairman in 1993 and was first elected premier in 1996.
After losing the 1999 election, Netanyahu returned to government in 2002 as foreign minister and later served as finance minister. He returned to the premiership in 2009, serving until 2021 and again from late 2022. He is widely credited with liberalizing Israel’s economy and helping transform the country into a global high-tech hub.
Netanyahu’s current political allies include Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit, Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism-Zehut, and the ultra-Orthodox parties Shas and United Torah Judaism. The newcomer Amcha Yisrael, led by Ofer Winter, could also join the bloc, although Winter is currently feuding with Likud over concerns that his party, which is hovering near the electoral threshold, could split the right-wing vote and potentially "waste" tens of thousands of ballots.
According to most Hebrew-language media polls, neither Netanyahu’s bloc nor the opposition led by Gadi Eisenkot currently has a clear path to securing the 61 Knesset seats needed to form a government.
If no candidate can assemble a governing coalition, Israel could head to another election, repeating the cycle of political instability that saw the country hold four national votes between April 2019 and March 2021.
Dan Diker, president of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, told Fox News Digital that any incoming government will face the same formidable security challenges as the current one, with few prospects for quick victories.
"The major challenge in this election will be what Netanyahu discussed in terms of adjusting the national security concept to prioritize prevention. That means taking very serious, assertive and aggressive military counterterrorism and nonmilitary actions against our enemies," Diker said.
The Israeli left, center and even far-right believe Netanyahu has failed to meet the expectations associated with his image as "Mr. Security," according to professor Tamar Hermann, a senior researcher at the Israel Democracy Institute.
"He promised to topple the Iranian regime, he promised to dismantle Hamas, he promised to crush Hezbollah. None of it was achieved," Hermann told Fox News Digital. "He gave a green light to not punishing vigilantes in the settlements who act against Palestinians. He also gave too much to the ultra-Orthodox parties, giving up on the idea of universal conscription."
Hermann said that Netanyahu’s current term has been his least successful, beginning with the judicial reform push, which triggered mass protests in 2023, and followed by the Palestinian terror attacks on Oct. 7. Netanyahu subsequently faced public anger over his handling of the hostage crisis, although, in coordination with Trump and his envoys, he ultimately secured the return of all the captives.
"In the eyes of some, his legacy will be that he inflicted a huge disaster upon Israel in terms of what happened to civilians on Oct. 7 and the deterioration of Israel’s international image," she said.
Michael Oren, a former Israeli ambassador to the United States, framed the upcoming election in terms of legacy and how Netanyahu will be remembered 50 years from now.
"There are two types of leaders: leaders in history and leaders of history," he told Fox News Digital. "There are leaders who go into office and perform as best they can, and there are leaders who go into office and see themselves as transformative, as having a historical role like Abraham Lincoln, Roosevelt or Churchill. Benjamin Netanyahu belongs to this category."
Oren said Netanyahu sees his mission as saving Israel from existential threats, foremost among them Iran, a goal he has yet to achieve.
"He is willing to endure virtually limitless criticism and condemnation around the world, as well as mass demonstrations against him, to fulfill this one role," he said. "To understand that is to understand Benjamin Netanyahu: He is a leader of history."
Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is seeking a political comeback with an ambitious vision for the Middle East: expanding the Abraham Accords, building economic partnerships with Arab nations and rebuilding Israel's strained international relationships, particularly with the United States.
For Bennett, whose American parents moved to Israel from San Francisco, the U.S. connection is both personal and political. The 54-year-old former technology entrepreneur, a familiar face on American television, believes his business background could help him work with President Donald Trump to advance regional diplomacy.
"Naftali Bennett is the right leader to strengthen Israel’s global standing, including among the American people, thanks to his proven track record of working with world leaders and bringing people together, both as prime minister and as a successful businessman," Bennett’s campaign told Fox News Digital.
"We are confident that our great friend in the White House, President Trump, and Israel’s allies around the world will welcome the opportunity to work with Bennett and the new government he intends to form. Together, we will revive the Negev Forum and expand the Abraham Accords, strengthening regional security and stability. That is why so many leaders across the Middle East and beyond who share a vision of a more secure, prosperous and stable region are eager to see Bennett lead Israel’s next government."
"He was a businessman, not a career politician, same as me," Bennett told The Times of Israel in June, referring to Trump. "His worldview is, let's get stuff done. Let's look at results, not process. And that's precisely my view."
Bennett said he would aggressively pursue regional agreements through economic cooperation, seeking to build on the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords. But while his ambitions overlap with Trump's regional agenda, the president endorsed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for re-election on Oct. 18.
Bennett also faces an unusual political challenge at home. His joint Beyachad, or Together, party with former Prime Minister Yair Lapid is polling behind both Netanyahu's Likud and former military chief Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party.
A Channel 12 poll published Oct. 23 projected 23 Knesset seats for Eisenkot, 21 for Netanyahu and 15 for Bennett and Lapid.
Yet Bennett knows better than most Israeli politicians that leading the largest party is not necessary to become prime minister. In 2021, he took office despite his Yamina party winning just seven of the Knesset's 120 seats, demonstrating the power of coalition negotiations in Israel's parliamentary system.
Born in Haifa to American immigrants, Bennett served in Israel's elite Sayeret Matkal and Maglan military units before co-founding cybersecurity company Cyota, which was sold for $145 million in 2005.
He entered politics as Netanyahu's chief of staff, later led the Yesha Council representing West Bank settlements and served as economy, education and defense minister.
A religious Zionist and longtime opponent of Palestinian statehood, Bennett stunned Israel's political establishment in 2021 when he formed a coalition spanning right-wing, centrist, left-wing and Arab parties, ending Netanyahu's 12 consecutive years in power.
The coalition collapsed in 2022, leaving many former supporters accusing him of betraying his electoral promises.
Einat Halevy Levin, a strategic advisor who has known Bennett for years, described a politician who has spent his time outside office preparing for a second opportunity.
"In 2021, he wasn't prepared. He hadn't built a governing party; he had built another election campaign," Halevy Levin told Fox News Digital.
She said she met Bennett at his home in November 2023, following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, when he had decided to return to politics.
This time, according to Halevy Levin, Bennett spent years building a political organization, carefully screening candidates and developing the infrastructure needed to govern.
"I've known him since he was economy minister. He was always daring and full of creative ideas, but was more inclined to stick to his own views," she said. "He has undergone a transformation."
Bennett's regional ambitions reflect an approach to diplomacy shaped by his business experience, according to Halevy Levin.
She recalled attending a meeting with a senior official from a neighboring country who appeared astonished by Bennett's detailed knowledge of its economy and priorities.
"He wasn't looking at the country through a military lens," she said, describing Bennett's focus on identifying shared economic interests rather than approaching every regional relationship primarily as a security challenge.
In an interview with Israel's Channel 13 on Sunday, two days before the election, Bennett pointed to his meetings as prime minister with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Jordan's King Abdullah II and UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed as examples of the diplomacy he hopes to revive.
He argued that Israel needs to present a new vision of a Middle Eastern renaissance and identified extremist settler violence in the West Bank as a major source of damage to its international standing.
"We need to eliminate Jewish terrorism in Judea and Samaria, and I say this precisely as a supporter of the settlement movement," Bennett said. "They do not represent the overwhelming majority of settlers, but right now this is the problem causing us the greatest damage internationally."
Bennett said he would direct Israel's senior police, military and intelligence officials to produce a plan within three days to crack down on extremist violence.
His foreign policy, however, remains firmly on the Israeli right.
On Iran, Bennett has promoted his "Octopus Doctrine," advocating direct action against Tehran rather than focusing exclusively on Iranian-backed groups.
"If Hezbollah fires at us, we strike Iran," he declared at an Aug. 19 policy conference.
On Gaza, Bennett opposes Palestinian statehood and supports maintaining Israeli security control until Hamas is disarmed. He has also proposed excluding Qatar and Turkey from Gaza's future arrangements while involving Egypt.
Those positions raise questions about how significantly his government would depart from Netanyahu's policies.
Danny Citrinowicz, a senior researcher at Israel's Institute for National Security Studies and former head of the Iran branch in Israeli military intelligence, argued that restoring Israel's diplomatic standing requires more than a change in leadership.
"If Bennett thinks he can support annexing E1 (an area east of Jerusalem where planned Israeli settlement construction could further fragment the West Bank), oppose a Palestinian state, continue the occupation of Gaza and simultaneously meet with Sisi and Abdullah and attract investment to Israel, he simply doesn't understand the depth of the international crisis," Citrinowicz said.
Citrinowicz argued that without a fundamental change in Israeli policy toward the Palestinians, replacing Netanyahu would not be sufficient to restore the country's international standing.
His warning comes amid changing American public attitudes toward Israel. A February 2026 Gallup survey found 36% of Americans sympathized more with Israelis, compared with 41% who sympathized more with Palestinians, a statistically insignificant five-point difference but a significant shift from the long-standing pro-Israel advantage.
A comeback built on lessons from 2021
Beyond foreign policy, Bennett is promising a sweeping domestic overhaul.
In an Oct. 25 manifesto, he pledged to redirect 30 billion shekels in government benefits toward families who work and serve in the military, reduce food prices by 30%, establish a state commission of inquiry into Oct. 7 and introduce an eight-year term limit for prime ministers.
His alliance with Lapid gives him an established political organization, but he faces competition from Eisenkot and continuing attacks from Netanyahu, who has warned that a future opposition coalition could depend on left-wing and Arab parties.
With Israel's fragmented parliamentary system requiring at least 61 seats to govern, coalition negotiations could prove as consequential as the election results themselves.
Bennett has already demonstrated that political reality once.
Now, four years after his first government collapsed, he is seeking to convince Israelis that the unconventional politician who became prime minister with seven seats has returned better prepared — and with a vision that could reshape Israel's place in the Middle East.
Incumbent leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defeated right-wing challenger Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro in Sunday's presidential second-round runoff, according to Brazil’s electoral court and The Associated Press. The deeply polarized nation returned to the polls for a second round of voting on Sunday.
With 100% of the vote counted, Lula won 51.8% of the vote, defeating Bolsonaro by nearly 4.4 million votes.
Despite trailing by nearly 4.4 million votes, Bolsonaro has refused to concede and has called for the election results to be annulled.
Lula addressed supporters after winning re-election to a fourth, nonconsecutive term, expressing gratitude to the Brazilian people.
"No one is required to like the president-elect, but he must govern for everyone," Lula said.
Referring to his opponent, Lula said, "This was a defeat for denialism and lies."
Lula’s victory followed confusion at polling places after Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin ordered a last-minute, two-hour extension of voting nationwide. The order came three minutes before polls were scheduled to close, and some polling places reportedly received word only after they had already closed.
Both the Lula and Bolsonaro campaigns had requested that voting remain open longer, citing transportation problems and severe weather in different parts of the country. Lula’s campaign pointed to problems with buses in São Paulo and Salvador, while Bolsonaro’s campaign cited heavy rain in southern Brazil.
"I've never complained about anything in any election before. Whether I won or lost, I'd just accept it and get ready for the next one. But this time, something abominable is happening," Lula argued.
Bolsonaro called the extension unprecedented and argued that it changed "the rules of the game in the middle of the game." He later asked that the election results be annulled.
Brazil’s electoral court president, Kassio Nunes Marques, said the extension did not affect the results. Legal experts also said Bolsonaro would face a high legal bar to invalidate the election.
Bolsonaro defeated Lula by more than 2.2 million votes in the first round on Oct. 4, with 47% of the vote to Lula’s 45%, but fell short of the 50% majority required to win the election outright.
Lula’s victory marked the first time since Brazil’s military dictatorship ended in 1985 that the second-place finisher in the first round went on to win the presidency.
The victory marks an unprecedented fourth presidential term for Lula and a remarkable comeback victory. The result is even more surprising given that Bolsonaro had led, albeit by tight margins, in recent polling, and Brazil had recently elected a center-right and right-leaning Congress.
Earlier in the day, Lula voted in São Bernardo do Campo, in São Paulo state, while Bolsonaro voted in northern Rio de Janeiro state, which he represents in the Senate.
The first vote tallies came in from Brazilians living overseas, where Lula won a decisive victory in Germany, and Bolsonaro won an overwhelming victory in Japan.
While Bolsonaro performed well in his southern electoral strongholds, winning by comfortable margins in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul, he won those states by smaller margins than in the first round.
His turnout in the south was not enough to overcome Lula's strong support in the North and Northeast, a reflection of the Workers’ Party’s strength in the country's populous "Nordeste" region.
Bolsonaro also turned in a disappointing performance in Minas Gerais, which geographically and politically straddles the Brazilian north-south divide. Often referred to as the nation's quintessential bellwether state, Minas Gerais has historically been viewed as an important indicator of national election results.
While Bolsonaro won Minas Gerais by 5% in the first round, in the second round, it was essentially tied.
Bolsonaro had received endorsements from other first-round candidates: best-selling author Augusto Cury, former Minas Gerais Governor Romeu Zema, and former Goiás Governor Ronaldo Caiado.
However, they were not enough to overcome the Workers’ Party’s established political organization. Lula has now appeared on the presidential ballot seven times, winning four of those elections.
Heading into the first round, Flávio Bolsonaro was effectively able to make the case to working-class and middle-class voters that Lula’s economic policies were driving up living costs.
He painted the Lula administration as bloated, tax-heavy and given to racking up debt, tying those issues to inflation and household finances.
Additionally, his message of hardline law and order appealed to a Brazilian public where voters routinely suggest that violence is the most pressing issue.
Nonetheless, these economic and security concerns were not enough to overcome Lula’s support among voters in the North and Northeast, where he won by wide margins.
While Lula will be riding high heading into a historic fourth term in office, he will face a Congress with a center-right and right-wing majority that analysts have described as among the most conservative in Brazilian history.
While Flávio Bolsonaro lost the 2026 election by a narrow margin, the Bolsonaro movement is certainly not going away and arguably remains an influential force in modern Brazilian politics.
The Lula victory also brings to an end a long string of victories for Trump-backed, right-wing candidates across the region. While Trump had not officially endorsed Flávio Bolsonaro, he made no secret of his preference, and enjoyed a close relationship with the Bolsonaro family.
Looking forward to 2030, all eyes will turn to Bolsonaro clan ally Tarcísio de Freitas, who did not enter the presidential race and instead supported Flávio Bolsonaro. The São Paulo governor is likely to remain a leading figure on the Brazilian right.
In addition to the presidential election, voters in five states, as well as the federal district of Brasília, were also selecting governors in runoff elections.
Fox News Digital's Bradford Betz and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's former spokesperson urged him Sunday to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin face-to-face in Moscow, arguing that his past business and political connections in the Russian capital from years back could help him negotiate a peace deal there.
Iuliia Mendel, who served as Zelenskyy's spokesperson from 2019 to 2021, told Fox News Digital that the former comedian had also made his first millions in Russia and should perhaps leverage those ties to pursue lasting peace.
"When Zelenskyy was an entertainer, he often performed in Moscow," Mendel said, adding that the Ukrainian president "knows a lot of people from Putin's elite."
"He actually professionally grew in Moscow and earned his first millions in Moscow, and today he pretends that he has nothing in common with them," Mendel said.
"He needs to go to Moscow and needs to agree on compromises that are acceptable," she said, before adding that Zelenskyy "doesn't need to play his maximalist games and to play this noble actor."
Mendel's criticism came as Ukraine, Russia and the United States prepared for another round of technical-level peace talks, potentially in Abu Dhabi or Switzerland, in November.
U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have helped lay the groundwork for renewed negotiations that officials hope could finally lead to direct talks between the two leaders.
Before entering politics, Zelenskyy had built a successful entertainment career. Beginning in the late 1990s, he performed with the comedy troupe Kvartal 95, competed on the Russian-language comedy program KVN and later worked as an actor, writer and producer in television and movies.
From the late 1990s, he performed on Russian stages and at private parties and appeared in movies shown across former Soviet republics, Mendel claimed.
She said that after Russia annexed Crimea and launched its war in Donbas in early 2014, Zelenskyy traveled to Russia to work on the comedy film "Eight New Dates" which was released in Russian theaters in 2015.
According to a report by Business Insider, many of Zelenskyy's movies were also in Russian and were marketed to a Russian audience, David Dodson, an American movie editor who worked with Zelenskyy told the outlet.
"He was a well-loved comic, actor and performer in Russia, but after [the 2013-14] Maidan [Revolution], everything changed," Dodson said.
"People need to realize that Volodya’s movies were very big in Russia. Most of his market was in Russia. He’s always been a popular comedy star in Russia," Dobson also clarified to GQ when asked if he directed the former actor in "Eight First Dates" in Russia, released in 2012.
In 2013, the movie received the Russian National Movie Awards as the Best Russian Comedy of the Year.
In 2019, Zelenskyy also promised to relinquish ownership of a Cyprus-registered company operating a film studio in Russia after investigative journalists revealed that he and his business partners still owned three Russian companies, according to the Kyiv Post.
Zelenskyy's entertainment career made him a household name in Ukraine and other former Soviet republics before he entered politics and won Ukraine's 2019 presidential election with roughly 73% of the runoff vote on promises to fight corruption and pursue peace in eastern Ukraine.
Mendel argued that Zelenskyy's promise to bring peace at the time stands in stark contrast to the devastating war that has crippled the country and defined much of his presidency.
"Zelenskyy became the president with 73% record support," Mendel said. "Because he promised to bring peace to Ukraine."
"And now he has been presiding for almost five years (over) the largest war in Europe since World War II. This shows a lot."
"When his country is bleeding, he needs to make a peace deal for his people," she said before adding that the leader "needs to put the interests of his people first, just for Ukraine to exist as an independent state."
Whether Zelenskyy should travel to Moscow has, in fact, become a flashpoint in efforts to arrange direct peace talks.
In 2025, Putin offered to host Zelenskyy for talks in Moscow, but the Ukrainian president rejected the invitation as Russian forces continued attacking Ukraine.
"He can come to Kyiv," Zelenskyy told ABC News at the time, saying he could not visit Moscow while Ukraine remained under Russian missile attacks.
Mendel, however, argued that personal animosity between the two leaders has become the main obstacle to diplomacy.
"Today there are diplomatic efforts to try to stop this brutal and bloody war that Russia started," she said.
"But what we see now is a personal opposition between Zelenskyy and Putin that continues to grow into constant escalation in which people suffer tremendously, Ukraine's infrastructure, energy grid, and businesses are in ruins, and refugees are fleeing."
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. More than four years later, peace negotiations are deadlocked over territory, security guarantees and the terms of a lasting ceasefire.
Moscow has demanded territorial concessions from Ukraine, including areas Russian forces do not fully control.
Kyiv has rejected ceding sovereign territory and insists that any agreement include enforceable security guarantees against another Russian attack.
Mendel went on to praise President Donald Trump's efforts to break the diplomatic deadlock, calling him the first Western leader to "challenge the status quo" and consistently push for an end to the war.
"For this reason, many Ukrainians place great hope in his ability to bring peace," she said.
"A sustainable peace deal cannot be reached solely between Zelensky and Putin; it requires the involvement and initiative of a strong third party to halt the ongoing devastation."
On Friday, the White House announced that first lady Melania Trump had helped broker a temporary ceasefire in Oleshky, a Russian-occupied town in southern Ukraine's Kherson region, to allow humanitarian aid deliveries, demining operations and civilian evacuations.
An estimated 1,700 to 2,000 people remain in the devastated front-line town, many of them facing severe shortages of food, medicine and other essentials.
The White House said the ceasefire would begin Oct. 29, although Ukrainian and Russian officials have indicated that operations could begin Oct. 27.
Pope Leo also reportedly spoke with Zelenskyy and Putin about the humanitarian crisis, according to Vatican News.
"Melania Trump has become synonymous with the words of a saver and a hero, since she has brokered the deal for Oleshky," Mendel said. "This is something that is going to save around 2,000 people and that neither Ukraine nor Russia could have solved for months and months."
"That is why, you know, what Melania Trump has done is actually a case to show that where two men are fighting, a woman can actually save lives," she added.
"And this is the new approach that would show that peace really should focus on human lives, not on maps and territories."
Mendel also criticized the influence of Zelenskyy's longtime ally Andriy Yermak on his diplomatic approach, arguing that the Ukrainian president has favored confrontation over compromise.
"Mr. Yermak was teaching Zelenskiy to be a strong man in diplomacy. And what today we see is actually diplomacy that doesn't exist," she said.
Brazil's estimated 158 million voters could advance Latin America's conservative wave in Sunday's election as the continent's most populous nation could elect conservative Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro as its next president.
The first round election three weeks ago saw a strong performance by Bolsonaro, proving the polls wrong. While incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (Lula) had been predicted to take the first round by single digits, Bolsonaro ended up winning 47% to Lula's 45%. As neither candidate won a majority, the election went to a second round.
Brazil's election follows a long string of victories for the Latin American right across Central and South America that started with the election of Libertarian outsider Javier Milei in Argentina in 2023.
2025 saw a right-wing sweep across the region, as Ecuador, Bolivia, Honduras and Chile all voted for conservative heads of state.
In 2026, Keiko Fujimori narrowly defeated a left-wing candidate to win the Peruvian presidency, while most recently, in Colombia, conservative attorney Abelardo de la Espriella bested left-wing Senator Ivan Cepeda.
Bolsonaro's slate of congressional candidates also fared well, ensuring that Brazil will have one of the most conservative congresses in years, and a legislative branch aligned with Bolsonaro's goals, or ready to thwart Lula's agenda.
The two candidates met Friday night for the final debate in Rio de Janeiro, which featured a series of questions organized around Brazil's five geographic regions. While the debate featured some heated personal exchanges, it appears unlikely to have moved the needle in either direction heading into a close race.
President Donald Trump has heralded these electoral results as vindication for his hardline approach to security, crime, and migration policies, as well as a stamp of approval for the new Shield of the Americas initiative.
The Trump administration counts on considerably more close allies now than it did at the beginning of Trump's second term.
Yet, the question remains: why is the region resoundingly rejecting the left and progressivism?
Many of the elections have been won by narrow margins, with Brazil being a case in point: Lula bested Jair Bolsonaro in 2022 by just 1.8%. While many Latin American nations remain deeply polarized, there is no denying a right-wing resurgence.
Commentators appear to be expressing a rejection of progressive movements amid growing concerns over safety and security, giving approval to proposals to dramatically ramp up police and military presence to combat crime and drug trafficking.
Meanwhile, leftist parties seem unable to capitalize on recurring concerns over inflation and kitchen table economics, which have played into the hands of the Latin American right, as working class and middle class voters have felt the pinch of rising food, housing and energy costs.
In addition to social and economic concerns, the specter of Jair Bolsonaro also looms over the election. Flavio Bolsonaro has pledged to free his father, who is currently serving a 27-year sentence on house arrest for allegedly plotting a coup in the wake of the 2022 election.
Lula was also sentenced to a 12-year prison sentence on corruption charges stemming from the infamous Operation Car Wash, until he was freed on a technicality by the Brazilian Supreme Court, and rose from the ashes to win the 2022 presidential election.
Bolsonaro has narrowly led in recent polls, and enters the second round with some structural advantages. Most importantly, he enjoys the backing of three of the four other major candidates in the race, who failed to advance to the second round.
Self-help author Augusto Cury, former Goias Governor Ronaldo Caiado, and former Minas Gerais Governor Romeu Zema all officially backed Bolsonaro in the second round.
Entrepreneur Renan Santos, candidate for the Mission Party, declined to endorse either candidate. However, as his political movement is characterized as free-market and libertarian, these voters are also more likely to trend to Bolsonaro.
Thus, Lula needs to win a significant majority of first round voters who backed right-wing or center-right candidates. It's a daunting, but not impossible, proposition.
The entire election may hinge on voters who are voting against a candidate, as much as for a candidate.
Another question looming over the election: has Lula finally worn out his welcome with the Brazilian electorate?
This will be Lula's seventh time in 40 years appearing on a presidential ballot: he lost elections in 1989, 1994, 1998, won in 2002, 2006, and 2022.
Lula famously promised to serve only one term when he ran to oust Jair Bolsonaro in 2022.
On October 25, 2022, just five days before the last second round presidential election, he posted on his official X account: "If elected, I will be a single-term president."
Various polls have shown that voters are not happy with the course of Lula's third term, and even a sizable percentage of Lula backers in 2022 responded with pessimism on the prospect of an unprecedented fourth term.
However, a large percentage of the Brazilian electorate also consistently rejects the prospect of voting for another Bolsonaro for president.
Lula is unquestionably the dominant figure in Brazilian politics over the past half-century. But will his magnetism and charisma be enough to overcome the right-wing resurgence sweeping the continent?
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