Lula’s advantage over Bolsonaro in Brazil’s October elections narrows -poll

SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazilian leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva maintains a lead against incumbent right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro ahead of October’s presidential election but is losing the strong lead he had in January, a Genial/Quaest poll released on Wednesday showed.

Lula is seen with 44% voter support in a first-round vote to Bolsonaro’s 32%, a 12-point lead that has fallen from 14 points in the previous poll.

In an expected run-off, Lula, a former president, is seen winning with a narrower 14 percentage point gap – taking 51% of the vote versus 37% for Bolsonaro, the Genial/Quaest poll said.

The Genial/Quaest poll also showed that the negative view of Bolsonaro’s government fell to 43%, down from the 47% seen in July, while the percentage of those who see the government in a positive light increased one percentage point to 27%.

For 40% of respondents, the country’s economic situation remains the biggest issue the nation faces, a smaller percentage if compared to the 44% seen in July.

Pollster Quaest interviewed 2,000 voters in person between July 28 and July 31. The poll has a margin of error of 2 percentage points.

(Reporting by Alexandre Caverni; Writing by Carolina Pulice; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)