Brazil presidential candidate Bolsonaro leads with 26 percent: Poll

Brazil's far-right presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro, who is in intensive care after being stabbed at a campaign rally, maintained his first-round lead in the latest election poll on Friday, but a leftist rival from the Workers Party (PT) made solid gains.

Former Sao Paulo Mayor Fernando Haddad, who took over as the PT's presidential candidate, jumped to 13 percent, up 4 points.

Center-left Ciro Gomes stayed even with 13 percent.

The Sept. 6 knife attack against Bolsonaro further complicated Brazil's most unpredictable election in three decades, with its most popular politician, jailed former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva who founded the PT, banned from running in the Oct. 7 vote due to a corruption conviction.

Haddad is Lula's hand-picked successor to stand for the PT.

Datafolha interviewed 2,820 people across Brazil on Thursday and Friday for the survey, which has a 2 percentage point margin of error.