BRASILIA, (Reuters) – Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has gained some ground against opposition candidate Marina Silva whose surge in voter support for the October elections has ended, two new polls showed yesterday.
Both polls still project the popular environmentalist as the favorite to beat Rousseff in a second-round runoff, though by a narrower margin than surveys done last week.
The numbers appear to show Rousseff’s attacks on Silva, launched in a presidential debate on Monday, are beginning to pay off, while campaign mistakes by Silva could have halted her meteoric rise since entering the race just two weeks ago.
According to the survey by polling institute Ibope, Rousseff picked up three percentage points in voter support for the Oct. 5 election, and her government’s approval rating rose two percentage points to 36 percent, welcome news for a president who appeared to be against the ropes.
Polling firm Datafolha confirmed that Rousseff’s bleeding has stopped, with her support rising one percentage point to 35 percent since last week, while Silva remained at 34 percent.
