Lula’s Lead Narrows in Brazil’s Presidential Election
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva holds a small lead over Senator Flavio Bolsonaro ahead of October’s election. A new national poll shows the gap between the two leaders has become much smaller. This makes the presidential race very competitive.
A Quaest survey released on Friday found Mr. Lula would receive 43 percent of votes in a simulated runoff election. Mr. Bolsonaro would get 40 percent. This difference is very small. It is a statistical tie because the poll has a two-point margin of error.
This gap is much smaller than a previous Quaest poll on August 5. In that poll, Mr. Lula was ahead by five points, 44 percent to 39 percent.
For the first round of voting, Mr. Lula leads more clearly with 38 percent. Mr. Bolsonaro has 31 percent. Three other candidates are far behind. Renan Santos and Ronaldo Caiado each received 4 percent. Romeu Zema polled at 2 percent.
Brazilian election rules state that if no candidate gets more than half the votes in the first round, the top two candidates go to a runoff vote.
Flavio Bolsonaro is the oldest son of former President Jair Bolsonaro. He has become the main candidate for Brazil’s right-wing voters. His father, Jair Bolsonaro, cannot run in this election.
Brazil’s highest election court barred Jair Bolsonaro from office. The court found he misused his power when he was president. He was also found guilty later for a plan to overturn his loss to Mr. Lula in the 2022 election.
The Quaest poll interviewed 2,004 people. It was done between August 10 and 13. The Brazilian media company Globo ordered the survey.
Mr. Lula started his re-election campaign on August 2. He spoke at the Workers’ Party meeting in Sao Paulo. He said he would defend Brazil’s “sovereignty.” This means Brazil’s right to govern itself.
He asked for more money for defence. He promised to protect Brazil’s important minerals from foreign control. These minerals include rare earths. Mr. Lula said he wants Brazil to be prepared. He wants no one to invade the country.
He warned that China, the United States, and France must respect Brazil’s sovereignty. If not, they will not get access to Brazil’s rich mineral wealth. He also said that Brazil does not accept anyone interfering in its affairs.
Former US President Donald Trump has strong ties with the Bolsonaro family. In June, Mr. Lula warned Mr. Trump not to interfere in the Brazilian election.
Mr. Lula told Mr. Trump that Brazilian elections are a problem for Brazil. He said American elections are a problem for America. He said he does not interfere in US elections.
