Former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has reclaimed a double-digit advantage over incumbent Jair Bolsonaro ahead of Brazil's October election after another center-right candidate quit the race, according to a new poll on Monday.
The opinion survey, run by Instituto FSB with sponsorship from investment bank BTG, found that 46% of voters support Lula, up from 41% in April. Support for Bolsonaro was unchanged from a month ago at 32% in the survey.
In an expected second-round run-off between the two men, Lula would gain 54% of the votes and Bolsonaro 35%, a 19 percentage point advantage that Lula had in March.
FSB director Marcelo Tokarski said Bolsonaro had gained ground in April after former Justice Minister Sergio Moro dropped out, but Lula saw a bump after Joao Doria, the former governor of Sao Paulo state, threw in the towel last week.
Frustrations about surging food and fuel prices have also taken their toll on Bolsonaro's support in the race.
"The surge in inflation, but mainly the expectation among most voters that prices will continue to rise in the next three months, has been a hurdle for Bolsonaro's re-election plans," Tokarski said.
The poll showed that the Brazilian election is more polarized than ever, with centrist alternatives to Lula and Bolsonaro garnering just 13% of voter support, down from 17% in April and 24% in March.
The rejection rates for both Lula and Bolsonaro remain virtually unchanged, with 43% of voters saying they would never vote for the leftist Workers Party leader and 59% saying they would never vote for the far-right incumbent.
The FSB research institute interviewed 2,000 voters by telephone between May 27 and 29 in the poll commissioned by BTG Pactual bank. It has a 2 percentage-point margin of error. (This story refiles to correct spelling of Lula's first name to Luiz not Luis)
(Reporting by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Mark Porter)
