Lula retains lead over Bolsonaro in Brazil’s election – poll

SAO PAULO, Aug 31 (Reuters) – Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has retained his strong lead over incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro ahead of the country’s October election, a Genial/Quaest poll released on Wednesday showed.

Lula is seen winning 44% support in a first-round vote against Bolsonaro’s 32%, the poll said. They had 45% and 33%, respectively, two weeks ago.

Center-left candidate Ciro Gomes saw his support rise to 8%, from 6% in the previous survey.

In an expected run-off, Lula slightly widened his lead to a 14 percentage point gap – taking 51% of the votes against Bolsonaro’s 37%. In the previous poll, Lula had a 13-point lead.

The Genial/Quaest poll found that the negative view of Bolsonaro’s government dipped to 40% from 41% two weeks ago, while the percentage of those who see the government in a positive light increased one percentage point to 30%.

Pollster Quaest interviewed 2,000 voters in person between August 25-28. The poll has a margin of error of 2 percentage points.

(Reporting by Peter Frontini; editing by Richard Pullin)