Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Senator Flavio Bolsonaro closed their campaigns on Saturday, one day before Sunday's presidential runoff. The two remain neck and neck in polls. Bolsonaro rallied in Minas Gerais, a key battleground state.
Lula and Bolsonaro wrapped up their campaigns on Saturday, mobilizing supporters and making a final push for undecided voters ahead of Sunday's runoff. The candidates have stayed neck and neck in polls after the right-wing senator performed better than expected in the first round.
A CNT/MDA poll on Saturday showed Bolsonaro with a 1.3-point lead.
Lula marches in Rio and Sao Paulo
Lula, who is seeking a fourth non-consecutive term, began his last day of campaigning with a march along Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana beach, where thousands of supporters joined him. He then led another march in Sao Paulo along Paulista Avenue, a traditional venue for political demonstrations in Brazil's largest city.
Before the rally, Lula told journalists the rally that he expects to win because people want change but also want to move forward, not backward. For many supporters, the rallies carried a bittersweet undertone: the 80-year-old president is widely expected to be making his final bid for office, which gave the closing events the feel of a farewell tour.
Bolsonaro targets Minas Gerais
Bolsonaro, meanwhile, joined a motorcycle caravan in Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais. No candidate has won the presidency without carrying the state since Brazil's return to democracy in the 1980s. Bolsonaro led Lula there by around 5 percentage points in the first round.
He later took part in a campaign march in his home state of Rio de Janeiro, which he has represented in the Senate since 2019. He is the eldest son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who backed him to run for the presidency last December. The former president was sentenced to over 27 years in prison for plotting a coup after losing the 2022 presidential election to Lula.
On Friday, the two candidates met for a final debate on TV Globo, where they sparred over the cost of living and traded personal attacks.
Source: Reuters via Investing.com
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