Lula has a 42% bad or terrible rating, according to Datafolha

President Lula's (PT) government is considered bad or terrible by 42% of voters, according to a new survey by Datafolha. Another 31% rate it as excellent or good, while 25% say they find it average.

The institute interviewed 2,002 people in 125 cities this Tuesday (1st) and Wednesday (2nd). The margin of error is plus or minus two points.

According to the survey, commissioned by TV Globo and Folha and registered with the Superior Electoral Court with code BR-03669/2026, 51% disapprove of the PT member's work, while 45% approve of him.

The numbers, although within the margin of error, are unfavorable for the PT member, mainly because they follow a trend.

In the previous round of the survey, two weeks ago, the PT member had scored 41% bad/terrible, an oscillation within the limit of the margin of error compared to the survey at the end of July, when he had 38%. The excellent/good had fluctuated from 32% to 33% and the regular, from 28% to 25%.

Regarding the president's personal approval, in the previous survey there was a technical tie, with 50% negative mentions and 48% positive.

In the period between the two surveys, Lula was buffeted by the Lulinha case, with suspicions surrounding the relationships of his son Fábio Luís. There was also a more intense public debate about the degradation of the government's public accounts, and GDP slowed down in the second quarter.

On the other hand, there was positive news on a popular topic, the advancement of the end of the 6x1 work scale. Lula worked with the presidents of the Houses of Congress, in an alliance seen as aiming post-election, to advance the processing of the project on the topic.

The government's evaluation and the president's approval are part of the set of indicators that serve as a barometer for his electoral campaign strategy. Usually, the rates are close to the incumbent's voting intentions or suggest a spillover in the final stretch of the campaign.

The 2022 election is an example. Then-president Jair Bolsonaro spent much of the campaign well behind Lula in the first round polls. On the eve of the election year, in December 2021, his positive rating was 22%, while 53% saw him as bad or terrible.