Janones' WhatsApp Army Helped Lula Overturn 1st-Round Deficit in Brazil Election
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Oct 28
Janones' WhatsApp Army Helped Lula Overturn 1st-Round Deficit in Brazil Election
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Oct 28
Summary
André Janones, 42, ran a nonstop late-stage digital push on WhatsApp and Instagram that helped mobilize Lula voters for Sunday’s runoff, according to Janones and Lula.
That effort targeted turnout after Lula had finished behind Flávio Bolsonaro in the first round, helping produce a historic comeback in which Lula won 51.79% of the vote.
Lula publicly thanked Janones after claiming victory, elevating the congressman as a key architect of the campaign’s final three-week sprint.
The win has already deepened Brazil’s political turmoil: Flávio Bolsonaro has rejected the result, and Jair Bolsonaro fled to the United States after authorities ordered him to surrender his passports in a money-laundering probe.