Brazil: Flavio Bolsonaro edges Lula in poll as rivals meet for first TV debate
A Quaest poll shows 46% to 44%, a statistical tie. The candidates, who skipped every first-round debate, face off ahead of the Oct. 25 runoff.
Archive image · Photo: Agência Senado from Brasilia, Brazil / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (cropped and resized)
Flavio Bolsonaro leads President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva 46% to 44% ahead of the Oct. 25 runoff, according to Quaest's first national runoff poll, commissioned by Globo and released Wednesday. The gap is within the two-point margin of error. The survey of 2,154 people was conducted Oct. 10-13. Ninety-one percent said their choice is final. Fifty-four percent said they would never vote for Flavio and 53% said the same of Lula. Forty-eight percent disapprove of Lula's government, while 45% approve.
After skipping every first-round debate, the two will face each other on television. The first debate is set for Thursday, Oct. 15, organized by a pool of 11 outlets including SBT and CNN Brasil, Latin Times reported, followed by debates on Band on Oct. 18 and TV Globo on Oct. 23. In the Oct. 4 first round, Flavio Bolsonaro won about 47% of the valid vote and Lula about 45%. A Datafolha survey published Oct. 9 found 78% of respondents consider both candidates' attendance at debates "very important."