Overview
- Both candidates formally opened their campaigns Sunday with large rallies in their strongholds, Lula in São Bernardo do Campo and Flávio Bolsonaro on Copacabana beach.
- A Quaest poll shows a close expected runoff with Lula at 43 percent and Bolsonaro at 40 percent while both carry rejection rates above 50 percent.
- Flávio Bolsonaro has named former prosecutor Alfredo Gaspar as his running mate to emphasize a security and law‑and‑order pitch.
- Lula is running on themes of national sovereignty, expanded defense spending and social program gains that government statistics say have lowered poverty and unemployment.
- Voter disillusionment and a dozen‑candidate field leave the race hingeing on persuading disengaged women and independent voters and on how concerns about foreign influence and election security shape turnout.