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Bolsonaro, Lula Battle for Votes in Brazil’s Largest State

(Bloomberg) -- The front-runners in Brazil’s presidential election are seeking support in the country’s most populous state, where the polling gap between them has narrowed in the last days of the campaign.

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President Jair Bolsonaro attended an event in Campinas, one of the biggest cities in Sao Paulo state, in the morning, before taking part in a televised debate Saturday night. Meanwhile, former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is not participating in the debate, held two rallies in the state’s capital.

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After leading a motorcycle rally in Campinas in the morning, Bolsonaro spoke to a crowd while aboard a sound truck, repeating his pro-gun agenda and calling his opponent a thief. Amid concerns about abstention rates, Lula urged people present at his two campaign events to vote on Oct. 2 and promised better jobs, schools and health care.

Read More: Lula Could Clinch First-Round Election Win, Datafolha Says

Lula’s lead over Bolsonaro among Sao Paulo state’s voters is at 7 percentage points, according to a Datafolha poll released this week, less than the 10-point advantage reported a week earlier. That is a smaller gap compared with a national poll also conducted by Datafolha, which shows Lula with 47% and Bolsonaro with 33%.

Both candidates are focusing on populous regions of the country in the week before the election day. Bolsonaro is continuing to reach out to female voters, while Lula is facing a tough fight with his opponent among evangelical groups.

Read More: Bolsonaro Is Failing to Win Over Crucial Female Vote in Brazil

(Updates 2nd and 3rd graphs with information about events held today.)

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