Lula seeks to cut Bolsonaro’s lead in southern Brazil

Bloomberg

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is launching an offensive to sway supporters of President Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil’s southern states, the stronghold of the right-wing incumbent.
The presidential front-runner held a rally on Friday in Porto Alegre, capital of Rio Grande do Sul, before heading to Curitiba, the Parana state capital where he was kept behind bars between 2018 and 2019 in a corruption sentence that was later tossed out by the country’s top court. On Sunday the leftist leader was to visit Florianopolis, the capital of Santa Catarina.
“Some people think I hate Curitiba because I was in jail here. I have gratitude for this city, and affection for men and women who spared no effort to keep asking for my freedom in the 580 days I was here,” Lula said at a campaign event Saturday morning in the capital.
Lula has held a comfortable lead in national polls ahead of the October 2 election, but has consistently trailed Bolsonaro in the south — a relatively wealthier region with an agriculture-based economy and conservative values similar to those sponsored by the former army captain.
Bolsonaro has 42% of voting intentions in the region, compared with 34% for Lula, according to a Datafolha survey. That’s in stark contrast with national poll numbers, which show Lula leading with 45% of the votes and the incumbent trailing with 33%.