Poll shows Lula and Bolsonaro tied before Brazil’s presidential election

Right-wing challenger Flavio Bolsonaro faces caller scrutiny implicit a movie backing scandal, which could impact his contention against incumbent Lula.

A caller canvass has reaffirmed the choky contention for Brazil’s presidency this year, with some the left-wing incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his right-wing challenger, Flavio Bolsonaro, tied successful a head-to-head contest.

On Saturday, Datafolha, the polling steadfast for the Grupo Folha media conglomerate, released its latest numbers, tracking the candidates’ advancement successful the run-up to October’s procreation election.

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Nearly 2,004 responded to the latest survey, which asked them to place whom they would ballot for if Lula and Bolsonaro progressed to a run-off.

Lula, present 80 years old, is angling for a 4th nonconsecutive term.

Brazil’s presidents are constricted to 2 four-year presumption astatine a time, and Lula archetypal served arsenic president from 2003 to 2011, championing societal programmes to trim hunger and summation national assistance to the poor.

Bolsonaro, connected the different hand, is hoping to proceed his father’s far-right governmental legacy. The eldest lad of imprisoned erstwhile President Jair Bolsonaro, Flavio — a legislator representing Rio de Janeiro — has pledged to question his father’s merchandise should helium beryllium elected.

Jair Bolsonaro is presently serving a 27-year situation condemnation for attempting to crippled a coup and subvert the predetermination results successful 2022, which saw an extremity to his word and the opening to Lula’s latest.

Saturday’s canvass results enactment Lula and the younger Bolsonaro successful a dormant heat.

Both candidates received 45 percent of the polled elector support, with an further 9 percent indicating they would formed “null” ballots. The remaining 1 percent was undecided.

But the poll, conducted connected May 12 and 13, was conducted earlier the latest ungraded involving the younger Bolsonaro’s run gained nationalist traction.

Controversy implicit movie deal

On May 13, The Intercept Brasil, a quality publication, printed a study containing leaked WhatsApp messages betwixt Bolsonaro and a banker arrested for an alleged fraud scheme, Daniel Vorcaro.

Bolsonaro had reportedly approached Vorcaro to concern a movie astir his father’s life, called Dark Horse.

The Bolsonaro household has agelong maintained that Jair Bolsonaro is simply a unfortunate of governmental persecution, and it had tapped US histrion Jim Caviezel to play the ex-president.

According to The Intercept’s reporting, Flavio Bolsonaro and his member Eduardo Bolsonaro had soliciting backing from Vorcaro, who yet pledged $24m, oregon 134 cardinal Brazilian reals, to the movie project.

In a statement, Flavio Bolsonaro acknowledged that helium had reached retired for financing, but helium denied the speech had thing to bash with Vorcaro’s alleged fraud scheme.

“It is indispensable to abstracted the guiltless from the criminals,” the connection said. “In our case, what happened was a lad seeking PRIVATE sponsorship for a PRIVATE movie astir his ain father’s life.”

Left-wing lawmakers, however, person called for an probe into the incident.

The contention implicit the Dark Horse movie is not the lone ungraded to person rocked Flavio Bolsonaro’s statesmanlike run successful caller months.

In December, the legislator entered the statesmanlike contention with his imprisoned father’s blessing.

But soon afterwards, helium faced disapproval for statements appearing to suggest helium mightiness retreat from the contention successful speech for his father’s freedom. He aboriginal clarified that his candidacy was “irreversible”.

In April, Brazil’s Supreme Court besides gave the go-ahead for federal constabulary to investigate whether Flavio Bolsonaro had made defamatory statements astir Lula.

While Lula was the frontrunner by a wide borderline successful precocious 2025, Bolsonaro has since narrowed the gap, starring to the 2 candidates racing cervix and cervix earlier October’s election.