Minas Gerais Governor Poll: Cleitinho Leads with 29%, Followed by Patrus, Kalil

Senator Cleitinho Azevedo is currently leading the gubernatorial race in Minas Gerais, Brazil, with 29% of voter intentions, according to a new poll by Quaest. The survey, released Tuesday, places Patrus Ananias of the Workers' Party (PT) in second place with 11%, followed by Alexandre Kalil of the Democratic Labour Party (PDT) with 10%, and Mateus Simões of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) with 7%. Gabriel Azevedo (MDB) and Flávio Roscoe (PL) trail with 5% and 3% respectively.

The poll also revealed that 19% of voters remain undecided, while 12% indicated they would cast blank or null votes. In a previous poll conducted on July 28, before all candidacies were confirmed, Azevedo held a stronger lead with 34%, while Kalil had 12% and Ananias 10%. Simões and Gabriel Azevedo were at 6% and 4% respectively.

Quaest conducted 1,506 face-to-face interviews between August 21 and 24. The margin of error is 3 percentage points, with a 95% confidence level. The survey was commissioned by Grupo Globo and registered with the Superior Electoral Court (TSE).

Simulations for a second-round runoff show Cleitinho Azevedo with a significant advantage over his main contenders. He is projected to defeat Alexandre Kalil by 48% to 27%, and Patrus Ananias by 51% to 26%. In hypothetical matchups against Mateus Simões, Azevedo leads 49% to 17%. The poll also explored potential second-round contests between Kalil and Ananias, and Kalil and Simões, indicating varying degrees of voter preference.