In a surprising triumph for the right, the Liberal Party also won eight seats of the 27 up for election in the Senate this year, three more than in the last election. “We elected the largest benches in the House and Senate, which was our highest priority in this first moment,” tweeted Bolsonaro the day after the first round of elections.

Bolsonaro also performed significantly better in his reelection bid than most polls had suggested. He now faces Lula — who is currently a slight favorite to win — in an Oct. 30 runoff vote for the presidency.

Either way, the result in Congress means that, even if Lula wins, his administration and left-leaning lawmakers could face a hostile environment in trying to pass legislation and push through progressive policies. “Bolsonarism” — the current president’s far-right movement supported by political and social conservatives and evangelicals — looks poised to remain a significant force in Brazil irrespective of whether Bolsonaro himself wins on Sunday.

“In our perspective, although both [Salabert and Hilton] are highly qualified and prepared for the challenges posed, the Chamber is taken by an anti-democratic and anti-people ideology,” Bruna Benevides, the policy secretary at Brazil’s National Association of Transvestites and Transsexuals (ANTRA), told OZY in an emailed statement. “With this, we believe that we cannot place the responsibility for the changes we want on these two people. Even in alliances with other parliamentarians from the progressive camp, we will still be at a disadvantage.”

However, Jucá says that there are still enough Lula allies in Congress to offset the rightward rise and allow new legislation to restore minority rights largely undermined in the last four years.

“The Bolsonaro allies don’t have the greater capacity to try to stop the resumption of the reconstruction of everything that has been dismantled during the current president’s term of office,” Jucá said. “I believe that, despite everything, we still have a good outlook.”

Indigenous peoples are another minority group that face prejudice and human rights violations. In 2017, Bolsonaro vowed not to demarcate “even a centimeter” of native people’s land. It was a promise he kept as president, leaving Indigenous communities vulnerable to illegal territorial invasions by loggers, ranchers, miners and hunters, all of which have surged under Bolsonaro’s presidency. “The demarcation process has been paralyzed since the beginning of this current government,” Jucá said.

The president’s dismantling of environmental and Indigenous protection agencies has also coincided with increased violence against Indigenous peoples, who often work as land defenders to protect their ancestral territories from invasions, leading to conflicts with criminal groups.

Despite the rightward shift in Congress, activists remain hopeful that having Indigenous federal deputies can bring increased visibility to the sufferings native peoples face. “When politicians don’t understand Indigenous issues, they support bills that take away our rights,” Marinalva Kamaka Pataxó Hã-Hã-Hãe, an Indigenous leader and activist, told OZY by phone. “Now, no matter who is elected as president, these Indigenous women candidates will be able to teach Congress about Indigenous issues. I’m optimistic about this.”

Meanwhile, Benevides believes that having two trans women in the lower house will also spur positive action for trans rights in the country, regardless of the rising socially conservative movement in Congress. “The undeniable fact that the presence of Erika and Duda in that place will promote necessary and significant changes and will bring us hope, despite the completely violent scenario driven by misogyny, transphobia and racism,” Benevides said.

“Without a doubt, they leave a legacy that standing up for rights changes reality.”