Portugal’s Presidential Race Set for February 8
Opposition Socialist Party candidate Antonio Jose Seguro captured approximately 31% of ballots in the opening round of Portugal's presidential contest, with nearly all votes tallied by Monday.
Far-right Chega party candidate Andre Ventura clinched his spot in the February 8 runoff with 24% support, Portuguese news agency LUSA reported.
Portuguese citizens cast ballots to select their next president amid climbing momentum for Ventura, yet results revealed the strongest Socialist performance since Jorge Sampaio in 2001, who secured victory that year with 55%.
Outgoing conservative President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who claimed nearly 60% in 2021, is finishing his second and constitutionally final five-year mandate. Eleven candidates vied to replace him, including Ventura, who earned nearly 12% in the previous presidential contest.
The Interior Ministry confirmed turnout reached 45.51%.
Seguro, who led the vote count, branded the outcome as a "democracy win," and said he "will win again on Feb. 8."
Speaking late Sunday, he urged democrats, progressives, and humanists to rally behind him to "defeat extremism."
Ventura, meanwhile, pledged to consolidate the far-right ahead of the second round.
Joao Cotrim de Figueiredo of the Liberal Initiative party placed third with 16%, trailed by independent candidate Henrique Gouveia e Melo with 12.3%.
Luis Marques Mendes of the governing center-right Social Democratic Party garnered approximately 11.4%.
Portugal has conducted a presidential runoff just once previously—in 1986, when former Socialist Prime Minister Mario Soares reversed a first-round deficit to defeat Freitas do Amaral.
The campaign unfolded against nationwide discussions over economic disparity, stagnant wages, inadequate housing availability, immigration policy restrictions, and employment legislation enacted by the Conservative administration of Prime Minister Luis Montenegro.
Chega, established seven years ago under Ventura's leadership, emerged as the primary opposition force following snap parliamentary elections last May.
Roughly 11 million eligible voters are enrolled for the election, with approximately 1.6 million residing outside Portugal's borders.
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