Brazil is preparing for a potential return of the far right to power as Flávio Bolsonaro, the eldest son of incarcerated former president Jair Bolsonaro, takes his campaign into one of the country’s most decisive states, according to the Guardian.

A giant banner of the jailed former president fluttered in the morning breeze as the far-right senator touched down at an airfield on the fringe of Juiz de Fora, one of the largest cities in the battleground state of Minas Gerais. Supporters gathered to welcome him at what the Guardian described as the scene of his father’s stabbing.

“Brazil is rudderless. Brazil has no president and Brazil needs a president u2013 and that president is Flu00e1vio Bolsonaro,” the senator declared as he waded into the crowd of supporters, the Guardian reported.

Polls place Flu00e1vio Bolsonaro neck-and-neck with Lula, the Guardian said, in a race the outlet characterised as a coin flip. Minas Gerais is regarded as a bellwether state whose result could help decide the outcome of the national contest.

The stakes are considerable given Brazil’s status as one of the biggest democracies on earth. The campaign trail through Minas Gerais underscores how central the state is expected to be to the eventual result, with Flu00e1vio seeking to fire up the base built by his father.

Choosing to begin his push at the site where Jair Bolsonaro was stabbed carries symbolic weight for a movement that continues to rally behind the imprisoned former leader, whose image remains prominent at campaign events.