Poll shows Brazil's Lula maintaining strong lead in presidential race

(Reuters) - Brazilian leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva maintains a strong lead against incumbent right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro ahead of October's presidential election, a Genial/Quaest poll released on Wednesday showed.

Lula is seen with 45% voter support in a first-round vote, a 14 percentage point lead over his far-right rival, with Bolsonaro up one point from his 30% support level in June.

In an expected run-off, Lula, a former president, is seen winning with a narrower 19 percentage point gap - taking 53% of the vote versus 34% for Bolsonaro, the Genial/Quaest poll said.

The Genial/Quaest poll also showed that the negative view of Bolsonaro's government stands at 47%, the same result from June, while the percentage of those who see the government in a positive light increased one percentage point to 26%.

For 44% of respondents, the country's economic situation remains the biggest issue the nation faces.

Pollster Quaest interviewed 2,000 voters in person between June 29 and July 2. The poll has a margin of error of 2 percentage points.

(Reporting by Carolina Pulice, editing by Deepa Babington)