Lula’s ‘pick’ jumps in presidential poll

Bloomberg

Leftist presidential candidate Fernando Haddad jumped in the first Datafolha opinion poll published since he officially replaced ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as the Workers’ Party candidate on Tuesday.
In the poll published on Friday evening Haddad rose to 13 percent of vote intentions, up from 9 percent in the last poll conducted on September 10. Far-right ex-Army captain Jair Bolsonaro led the survey with 26 percent of votes, up from 24 percent: a move within the margin of error. Former Ceara state Governor Ciro Gomes’ vote intentions remained stable, at 13 percent. Both market-favourite Geraldo Alckmin and environmentalist Marina Silva lost support, with Alckmin down 1 percentage point and Silva down by three.
The survey captures voter sentiment at the end of another turbulent week in the race for the presidency during which Bolsonaro underwent another emergency surgery following his stabbing last week by a fanatic at a campaign rally. The Workers’ Party also started releasing their first TV and radio adverts presenting Haddad as its candidate, running the slogan “Haddad is Lula”. Brazilian assets have dropped and the currency has hovered near a record low in recent days on concerns that the winner of October’s contest would balk at implementing crucial belt-tightening measures.
Investors are paying increasing attention to poll scenarios for a runoff, which will happen if no candidate obtains a majority of valid votes in the first round. The Datafolha poll showed Bolsonaro would trail Gomes, Silva and Alckmin in any second round, while Haddad and Bolsonaro are in a technical tie, with the Workers’ Party candidate on 40 percent and the former paratrooper on 41 percent.
Bolsonaro’s rejection rating rose to 44 percent from 43 percent, the highest among all candidates, while Haddad’s also increased to 26 percent from 22 percent.