Leftist Lula maintains dominant lead in Brazilian election, poll shows

Former Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks at Forca Sindical Congress in Sao Paulo, Brazil December 8, 2021. Picture taken December 8, 2021. REUTERS/Carla Carniel/File Photo

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian former leftist leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has a comfortable lead in the polls heading into next year's October presidential election, with right-wing incumbent Jair Bolsonaro nearly 30 percentage points down, according to a poll released on Tuesday.

If the vote were held today, 48% percent of respondents said they would vote for Lula, as the former president is widely known, while 21% would vote for Bolsonaro, according to the survey by pollster Inteligencia em Pesquisa e Consultoria (IPEC), which was published on news website G1.