Haddad gaining ground on Bolsonaro in Brazil: opinion poll

Leftist candidate Fernando Haddad is gaining ground in Brazil's presidential election campaign, with a poll showing Monday that he would beat right-wing frontrunner Jair Bolsonaro in a second round runoff. Bolsonaro remains out in front with 28 percent, but Haddad -- with 22 percent -- has closed the gap by three points in the last week, according to the Ibope poll. The key difference from a September 18 survey by the same pollsters is that Haddad would emerge clear winner -- by 43 percent to 37 percent -- should the election go to a second round. The previous opinion poll showed them tied at 40 percent in a runoff. Haddad has seen his popularity soar since he was officially named by the Workers' Party as replacement candidate for former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Brazil's top electoral court barred Lula from running in the October 7 election as he serves a 12-year prison term for accepting a bribe. Bolsonaro -- a former army captain accused by critics of racism, sexism and homophobia -- has been absent from the campaign trail as he recovers in hospital after being stabbed by a left-wing activist during a rally earlier this month. Third placed center-left candidate Ciro Gomes polled at 11 percent, followed by a conservative, Geraldo Alckmin at 8.0 percent, with environmentalist Marina Silva at 5.0 percent. Brazilian polls ask voters who they would pick in an eventual head-to-head second round, which takes place three weeks after the first round if there is no outright winner. The Ibope poll of 2,506 respondents was conducted on September 22 and 23.