Brazil Elections: Tight Polls Intensify Race in Final Stretch

Politics Elections Contact us:Provide news feedback or report an error Confidential tip?Send a tip to our reporters Site feedback:Take our Survey By Vanessa Dezem October 23, 2026 at 2:18 PM UTC Takeaways by Bloomberg AI A tie between the two candidates in Thursday’s Datafolha poll boosted President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s campaign, which saw signs of gains for Lula and stability for Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, according to Valor newspaper. Bolsonaro’s allies, meanwhile, played down the result but acknowledged that the race had tightened in the final stretch. Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro enter the very final stretch of campaign tied at 50% of valid votes each, according to the Datafolha poll, compared with 51% for the senator and 49% for the president the week before. In terms of total votes, Flávio has 47% and Lula 46%. The poll surveyed 2,520 people from Oct. 20 to 22 and has a margin of error of 2 percentage points and a 95% confidence level.