Lula, Bolsonaro neck-and-neck in Brazil runoff polls ahead of election

September 14, 2026 6:40 AM EDT

Brazil's first lady Rosangela "Janja" da Silva joins supporters during a cultural parade backing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for reelection in Brasilia, Brazil, September 13, 2026. REUTERS/Mateus Bonomi

SAO PAULO, Sept 14 (Reuters) - ‌Two opinion ​polls released ​on Monday showed Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and right-wing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro statistically tied in ‌a potential second-round runoff ahead of next month's election.

Lula ⁠regained a narrow lead over the eldest son of former President Jair Bolsonaro in ‌a BTG Pactual/Nexus survey, ‌while a separate Quaest poll commissioned by Globo showed the lawmaker numerically ahead for the first time.

Bolsonaro's strong showing in recent ​polls helped Brazilian assets rally last week as the senator is considered more market-friendly. If no candidate wins more than 50% ⁠of valid votes in the October 4 first round, the two frontrunners advance to a ​runoff on October 25.

BTG PACTUAL/NEXUS POLL

• Lula led Bolsonaro 47% to 46% in a simulated runoff in the ​BTG Pactual/Nexus survey.

• A week ago, ‌Bolsonaro held a 46%-45% lead over the leftist incumbent, marking the lawmaker's strongest showing in the survey ⁠since March.

• In a first-round scenario, the latest Nexus poll showed Lula with 42%, followed by Bolsonaro (37%), Augusto Cury (6%), Ronaldo Caiado (5%) and Renan Santos (2%).

• Nexus ⁠surveyed 2,003 people from September 11 to 13; margin of error 2 percentage ​points.

QUAEST POLL

• The Quaest poll showed Bolsonaro ahead of Lula by 42% to 40% in a potential second-round runoff.

• A September 7 poll had the ‌two tied at 41% each.

• In a first-round scenario, Quaest had Lula leading with 36% of the ‌votes, followed by Bolsonaro (31%), Cury (7%), Caiado (4%) and Santos (4%).

• Quaest surveyed 2,004 people from ⁠September 10 to 13; ‌margin of error 2 ​percentage points.

(Reporting by Michael Susin in Barcelona and Gabriel Araujo in Sao Paulo, Editing by Louise Heavens and ‌Alistair Bell)



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