Two opinion polls published on Monday showed that Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and right-wing Senator Flávio Bolsonaro were statistically tied in a possible runoff before next month’s elections.
Lula regained a narrow lead over the eldest son of former President Jair Bolsonaro in a BTG Pactual/Nexus poll, while a separate Quaest poll commissioned by Globo showed the legislator had a numerical advantage for the first time.
In a first-round scenario, the latest BTG Pactual/Nexus poll showed Lula with 42% voting intention, followed by Bolsonaro (37%), Augusto Cury (6%), Ronaldo Caiado (5%), and Renan Santos (2%). The first round is scheduled for October 4.
In a simulated runoff, eventually scheduled for October 25, Lula leads Bolsonaro 47% to 46%, respectively.
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A week ago, Bolsonaro had a 46%-45% lead over the current leftist president, “marking the legislator’s strongest result in the poll since March,” according to the pollster.
Meanwhile, in a first-round scenario, Quaest had Lula leading with 36% of the votes, followed by Bolsonaro (31%), Cury (7%), Caiado (4%), and Santos (4%).
The same poll showed Bolsonaro ahead of Lula by 42% to 40% in a possible runoff. A poll from September 7 showed the two tied at 41% each.
