Incumbent Bolsonaro has eroded a slight advantage for leftist challenger Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in most polls
Brazil’s heated presidential race has tightened ahead of a Sunday vote, several opinion surveys showed on Saturday, with right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro eroding a slight advantage for leftist challenger Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in most polls.
Most polls still suggest Lula is the slight favorite to come back for a third term, capping a remarkable political rebound after his jailing on graft convictions that were overturned. But Bolsonaro outperformed opinion polls in the first-round vote on Oct. 2, and many analysts say the election could go either way.The final opinion surveys by pollsters IPEC and AtlasIntel, however, showed Lula holding a stable and slightly larger lead.
The deeply polarizing figures also attacked each other’s character and record in their final televised debate on Friday night. Bolsonaro opened the debate by denying reports he might unpeg the minimum wage from inflation, announcing instead he would raise it to 1,400 reais a month if re-elected, a move that is not in his government’s 2023 budget.