Brazil's Lula widens first-round lead, remains tied with Bolsonaro in runoff polls


FILE PHOTO: A combination image shows Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (left) at a ceremony at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, August 8, 2026, and senator Flavio Bolsonaro (right), the Liberal Party (PL) candidate in Brazil's presidential election, during an event announcing Alfredo Gaspar as Bolsonaro's vice-presidential running mate, in Brasilia, Brazil, August 5, 2026. REUTERS/Adriano Machado/File Photo

SAO PAULO, Sept 28 (Reuters) - ⁠Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Senator ⁠Flavio Bolsonaro remain statistically tied in a simulated runoff ‌ahead of next month's election, while the leftist incumbent widened his lead in the first round, two polls showed on Monday.

If no candidate wins more ​than 50% of valid votes in ⁠the October 4 first round, ⁠the twofrontrunners will advance to a runoff on October 25.

QUAEST ⁠POLL

• ‌In a potential runoff, Lula and right-wing Bolsonaro would each receive 42% of the vote, according to a ⁠Quaest poll commissioned by Globo.

• A week earlier,Quaest ​showedBolsonaro at ‌42% and Lula at 41%.

• In a first-round scenario, Lula ⁠would lead ​with 39% of the vote, followed by Bolsonaro with 34%; the previous survey had them at 37% and 33%, respectively.

• Quaest surveyed ⁠2,004 people from September 24 to ​27; margin of error 2 percentage points.

BTG PACTUAL/NEXUS POLL

• Lula would receive 46% of the vote in a runoff, compared with 44% ⁠forthe eldest son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, according to a BTG Pactual/Nexus poll.

• A September 21 survey showed Lula leading Bolsonaro by 46% to 45%.

• In a first-round scenario, Lula ​would receive 42% of the vote ⁠and Bolsonaro 37%, compared with 40% and 37%, respectively, in the ​previous poll.

• Nexus surveyed 2,000 people ‌from September 25 to 27; margin ​of error 2 percentage points.

(Reporting by Michael Susin in Barcelona, Isabel Teles and Gabriel Araujo in Sao Paulo)

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