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President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva widened his lead over Senator Flávio Bolsonaro after the challenger was embroiled in a corruption scandal and the US increased pressure on Brazil ahead of October’s election, a new poll showed.
Lula would win 44% of the vote in a runoff against Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, compared with 38% for the senator, according to a Genial/Quaest survey published Wednesday. The previous month , Lula led by just one percentage point, with 42% support versus 41% for Flávio Bolsonaro.
The findings are the latest sign that Flávio Bolsonaro’s campaign is losing steam. In recent weeks, Lula’s chief rival has come under scrutiny for his ties to disgraced banker Daniel Vorcaro and his role in worsening relations between Brasilia and Washington.
While the conservative senator had practically tied Lula after launching his presidential bid in December, reports that he sought financial support from Vorcaro, the former chief executive of the now-defunct Banco Master SA, for a biopic about his father dealt a blow to his candidacy.
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Bolsonaro has denied wrongdoing, saying he sought private funding for a private project. But revelations linking him to Banco Master — the lender at the center of what authorities have described as Brazil’s largest-ever banking fraud case — are undermining his efforts to use corruption, a top concern among voters, as a political weapon against Lula.
Meanwhile, 80-year-old incumbent has sought to juice the economy and shield consumers from higher fuel prices ahead of the election.
Quaest interviewed 2,004 people between June 5 and 8, with a margin of error of 2 percentage points
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