(12/10/09) -

Serra Maintains Significant Lead in Brazil

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Sao Paulo governor Jose Serra is in a strong position as Brazil enters an election year, according to a poll by Ibope. 38 per cent of respondents would vote for Serra of the conservative Brazilian Party of Social Democracy (PSDB) in the 2010 presidential ballot, up three points since September.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Sao Paulo governor Jose Serra is in a strong position as Brazil enters an election year, according to a poll by Ibope. 38 per cent of respondents would vote for Serra of the conservative Brazilian Party of Social Democracy (PSDB) in the 2010 presidential ballot, up three points since September.

Current government chief of staff Dilma Rousseff of the Worker’s Party (PT) is second with 17 per cent, followed by Ciro Gomes of the Socialist People’s Party (PSB) with 13 per cent, and Marina Silva of the Green Party (PV) with six per cent.

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva—a member of the PT—won the October 2002 presidential election with 61 per cent of the vote in a run-off against Serra. In October 2006, he earned a new four-year term, defeating PSDB candidate Geraldo Alckmin with 60.8 per cent of the vote in the second round.

Lula has publicly endorsed Rousseff as his preferred successor.

Last month, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Brazil, following Lula’s invitation. On Nov. 24, Serra criticized Lula for his meeting with Ahmadinejad, declaring that one thing is to have diplomatic ties with dictatorships, but another is "to welcome their leaders into your home."

Lula is ineligible for a third term in office. The first round of Brazil’s next presidential election is scheduled for Oct. 3, 2010.

Polling Data

Which of these candidates would you vote for in the next presidential election?

Source: Ibope
Methodology: Interviews with 2,002 Brazilian adults, conducted from Nov. 26 to Nov. 30, 2009. Margin of error is 2.2 per cent.