Rousseff wins Brazil election

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has been re-elected, defeating her center-right challenger Aecio Neves by a narrow margin, according to Brazil's official election authority.

With nearly the entirety of the vote tallied on Sunday, the leftist Rousseff led opposition candidate Neves 51 percent to 49 percent, according to Brazil's official election authority.

Some 143 million voters were eligible to cast their vote in the presidential run-off, which was seen as a referendum on the left-wing Worker's Party's (PT) 12 years of rule – eight years under former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and four years under President Rousseff.

Brazil's first female president, who has been hit hard by corruption scandals, was seeking a second term in office. Voter surveys had projected the 66-year-old president as a slight favorite over Neves, a former state governor from the center-right Party of Brazilian Social Democracy (PSDB).

Rousseff won the first round of elections on October 5 with 41.5 percent of the votes, to Neves' 33.5 percent. The 54-year-old Neves was hoping to gain extra votes from the supporters of former environment minister Marina Silva, who secured 21.3 percent in the first round and failed to make the run-off. Silva publicly backed Neves in the run-off.

Center-right candidate Neves has a strong support base among Brazil's upper-middle class and the rich. He campaigned on a pro-business platform and pledged, if elected, to revive the country's economy, which has stagnated since Rousseff took office in 2011.

bw/jm (AP, Reuters, AFP)