The campaign of João Campos (PSB) for governor of Pernambuco has stepped up pressure for President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to take part in campaign events in the northeastern state as soon as possible. The information comes from the Painel column in Folha de S.Paulo, which reports that the appeals gained force as Campos's deficit to Governor Raquel Lyra (PSD), who is seeking reelection, has consolidated in the polls.
A Quaest poll released on Tuesday (25) and commissioned by Globo shows Raquel Lyra with 44% of voting intentions, against 36% for João Campos, the mayor of Recife. In a runoff simulation, the governor has 47% to her rival's 37%. The institute interviewed 1,302 voters between August 21 and 24, with a margin of error of three percentage points, according to G1.
Lula's weight in the state
The push for the president's presence is explained by his own numbers among Pernambuco voters. In the same survey, Lula leads the presidential race in the state by a wide margin, with 54% of voting intentions against 19% for Flávio Bolsonaro (PL). Half of voters (50%) say they prefer a governor allied with Lula, while 29% want an independent governor and 17% prefer an ally of Flávio Bolsonaro.
The poll also measured the limits of that endorsement: for 44% of respondents, Lula's support does not change their choice for governor; for 34%, it raises the chance of voting for his candidate; for 18%, it lowers it. Quaest also found high rejection rates for both front-runners: 40% say they know João Campos and would not vote for him, compared with 34% for Raquel Lyra.
The governor, in turn, benefits from positive reviews of her administration: 68% approve of her government and 61% say she deserves reelection. "Pernambuco is a scenario in which the governor managed to turn approval into voting intentions at this moment, by 44% to 36%", Quaest director and Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) professor Felipe Nunes told G1.
The son of former governor Eduardo Campos, who died in a plane crash in 2014, João Campos is trying to return the PSB to power in Pernambuco, a state the party governed for 16 years until Raquel Lyra's victory in 2022. The first round of the election is scheduled for October 4.