Dilma Rousseff Elected Brazil's President

Da Silva Protégée Resonated With Voters Seeking to Extend Departing Leader's Legacy in Latin America's Biggest Nation

• Dilma Rousseff set to be Brazil's first female president
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• First exit polls predict that Dilma Rousseff, a former Marxist rebel, had won after taking 58 percent of the vote

SÃO PAULO, Brazil—Dilma Rousseff, a 62-year-old former leftist guerilla-turned-powerful cabinet minister, was elected Brazil's first female president in a victory sealed by economic prosperity and the broad popularity of her predecessor and mentor, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

With 99% of the votes counted, Ms. Rousseff won 56% of the votes, compared with 44% for rival, José Serra, a former São Paulo governor, in a two-candidate runoff election. In early October, Ms. Rousseff won a multi-candidate first-round contest but failed to garner the 50% of votes needed to avoid a second round.

The election elevates a relatively unknown bureaucrat to the helm of Latin America's biggest country, as it carves out a bigger role in the global economy. Brazil became the world's eighth-biggest economy in recent years, giving it enough clout to help push the U.S. and Europe to include emerging nations in talks on the global financial crisis. Brazil hosts soccer's World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016.

"I voted for Dilma because I hope she'll continue Lula's work," said Maria Rosa Lima de Souza, 52, a housekeeper in Rio de Janeiro's working class Santa Teresa neighborhood. "Our way of life is improving."

Leaving her home for a victory party at a hotel in Brasilia, the capital, Ms. Rousseff told reporters she was "very happy" and "I promise to honor the confidence (voters) showed in me."

A twice-divorced economist who battled back from cancer last year, Ms. Rousseff won by promising continuity. During two terms in office, Mr. da Silva became one of Brazil's most beloved presidents as a policy mix of exchange-rate stability and rising social welfare spending helped lift 21 million people from poverty. Ineligible for re-election, Mr. da Silva groomed Ms. Rousseff as his successor. His popularity even helped the Rousseff campaign survive a corruption scandal that in September prompted a former aide of Ms. Rousseff to step down from the government.

A message of extending Mr. da Silva's legacy resonated with voters in a country set to grow over 7% this year. Household incomes rose by 32% under Mr. da Silva as millions of newly minted members of the middle class moved into new homes. Though many among Brazil's rich elites revile both Mr. da Silva and Ms. Rousseff, the wealthy benefitted, too. Brazil's benchmark stock index rose more than 500%, and Lamborghini opened its only Latin American dealership in São Paulo.

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