Brazil's newest presidential candidate, borne of tragedy, has eclipsed incumbent Dilma Rousseff and looks likely to win the country's Oct. 5 presidential election, according to a new poll.

That data shows that Marina Silva, a Socialist Party candidate, would win 45 percent of the vote in a runoff election, compared with Rousseff getting 36 percent of that vote, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Rousseff, who represents the Workers' Party, would get 34 percent of the first-round vote, followed by Silva, 29 percent, and Aecio Neves, 19 percent. But Brazilian law requires a candidate to garner more than 50 percent of the vote to avoid a runoff.

The poll came out just before the candidates squared off in the first presidential debate, during which Silva jumped on Rousseff after the latter touted her government's accomplishments.

"The first thing (needed) to fight problems is to recognize they exist," Silva said in the debate. "This Brazil that President Dilma is showing, colorful, almost like a movie, doesn't exist in people's lives."

Brazilian Political Scientist Carlos Melo said Silva is appealing to widespread public dissatisfaction with traditional politics and the parties that have governed Brazil for about two decades, since the dictatorship fell in 1985.

"She is on the rise. She has become the hit of the moment," Melo said. "The rise of Marina's candidacy is the result of the Brazilian people's fatigue (with politics as usual)."

Silva, the daughter of an Amazon rubber tapper, also has gained public support from her distance from the Brazilian political establishment. She didn't learn to read and write until she was a teenager and, if elected, she would be Brazil's first black president.

This time last month, Silva was a running mate of candidate Eduardo Campos, but was thrust into the forefront of the race when Campos died in a plane crash earlier this month, according to The Guardian. Since Silva replaced Campos, the Socialist Party has been shooting up the polls.