Lula and Bolsonaro are going to Minas Gerais after Datafolha poll indicates a chance of the Workers' Party candidate winning in the first round.

Reuters - Candidates who are polarizing the race for the Planalto Palace in this year's election, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and Jair Bolsonaro (PL), will campaign this Friday in Minas Gerais, one day after a Datafolha poll showed the possibility of the PT candidate being elected in the first round, on October 2nd.

Lula will hold a rally in Ipatinga, a city in the so-called Steel Valley due to the presence of the steel industry in the region. Bolsonaro, in turn, will be in Divinópolis, in the western region of the state, and will also go to Santa Luzia, in the metropolitan region of the capital Belo Horizonte.

>>> Bolsonaro's high disapproval rating is increasing discouragement in the campaign, which is now blaming him for its poor performance.

See below for highlights of the election landscape.

MINEIRA ARENA

The visit of the two main candidates to Minas Gerais marks a new battle for votes in the country's second-largest electoral college and in the state where all elected presidents have won since the return to democracy.

Both Lula and Bolsonaro have visited Minas Gerais several times since the official start of the campaign in mid-August. Lula held his first major rally there after the official launch, and the candidate seeking re-election began his campaign in the Minas Gerais city of Juiz de Fora, where he suffered a knife attack in 2018.

A Datafolha poll released the day before showed Lula gaining ground in Minas Gerais, with his lead over Bolsonaro increasing from 10 points in last week's poll to 13 points now. In the state, the Workers' Party candidate has 46% of the electorate's preference, compared to 33% for the candidate seeking re-election.

FIRST ROUND

The national Datafolha poll gave Lula 50% of valid votes, 2 points more than last week. To secure the victory on October 2nd, he needs more than half of the valid votes, excluding blank and null votes. On Monday, an Ipec poll showed the Workers' Party candidate with more than 50% of the valid votes.

Considering the total votes, Datafolha showed Lula with 47%, a 2-point increase compared to the previous poll, and Bolsonaro remaining at 33%, in line with other surveys released this week that showed Lula rising, within the margin of error of the polls, while Bolsonaro stayed in the same place.

Lula's campaign and the former president himself have been appealing for strategic voting in the final stretch of the campaign, hoping to end the contest on October 2nd, without the need for a new round of voting which, if it occurs, is scheduled for October 30th.

NEXT ELECTION POLLS

• XP/Ipespe - September 23, Friday
• Ipespe - September 24th, Saturday
• BTG/FSB - September 26th, Monday
• Ipec - September 26th, Monday
• AtlasIntel - September 27th, Tuesday
• Genial/Quaest - September 28th, Wednesday
• PoderData - September 28th, Wednesday

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