MANAGUA -- (AFP) -- Former Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega leads among those seeking his old job in a Nov. 4 election, but his opponent is gaining ground, a new poll says.

 Ortega, candidate of the leftist Sandinista party, earned the support of 34.9 percent of the 1,200 people polled by Borge and Associates, to 30.5 percent for Enrique Bolanos of the ruling Constitutional Liberal Party.

 The poll showed support for both has grown since March, while Ortega's lead went from 8.6 percent to 4.4 percent in the most recent poll.

 The poll's margin of error is plus or minus 3 percent.

 Ortega, the Marxist who helped overthrow the dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza with his Sandinista National Liberation Front, ruled Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990. Since then, he has twice lost bids to regain power.