Portugal Enters Historic Presidential Runoff After First-Round Vote

.

ER Editor: Politico also ran this today —

Center left wins Portugal presidential election first round, setting up showdown with far right

********

Socialist Seguro and populist Ventura have advanced to the second round in the Portuguese presidential race.

TEC NEWS / AFP

Portugal’s socialist candidate won the first round of the presidential election and will face the national-conservative candidate in the second round, results showed on Sunday, January 18th.

With votes from 99% of constituencies counted, Socialist António José Seguro was leading with 31.1% of the vote, while right-wing contender and leader of the Chega party André Ventura came in second with 23.4%.

Socialist candidate Jose Antonio Seguro waves a Portuguese flag as he addresses supporters on the night of Portugal’s presidential election first round in Caldas da Rainha on January 18, 2026. PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA/AFP.

.

Ventura and Seguro will face off on February 8 to decide who succeeds incumbent Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

This will be the first time a right-wing candidate has made it to the second round of the presidential race.

For decades, the country remained largely untouched by the surge of populist or identity-based movements that gained ground in other European Union member states.

Chega’s emergence as the leading force in voting intentions reflects a loss of confidence in the traditional parties and a growing demand for clear answers on issues that for years were sidelined or addressed only superficially.

During the campaign, Seguro had argued that he was the only one capable of defeating Ventura’s “extremism” and had called on “all democrats” to unite behind him.

While the role of president is largely ceremonial, in times of crisis the incumbent can dissolve parliament, call elections, or dismiss a prime minister.

Portugal’s centre-right prime minister, Luís Montenegro, said he would not be giving any advice on who to vote for in the second round.

His minority government already relies on Chega for support to implement some of its policies.

Ventura called on other parties on the right not to stand in his way if he makes it to the second round.

Source

Featured image source, Seguro: https://expresso.pt/politica/eleicoes/presidenciais-2026/2025-12-17-antonio-jose-seguro-promete-transparencia-sobre-rendimentos-e-espera-o-mesmo-dos-opositores-431d1eba

Featured image source, Ventura: https://sicnoticias.pt/especiais/autarquicas/2025-10-13-chega-ganha-camaras-e-cresce-em-votos-e-mandatos-mas-fica-aquem-dos-objetivos-d5dfe8c9

************

••••

The Liberty Beacon Project is now expanding at a near exponential rate, and for this we are grateful and excited! But we must also be practical. For 7 years we have not asked for any donations, and have built this project with our own funds as we grew. We are now experiencing ever increasing growing pains due to the large number of websites and projects we represent. So we have just installed donation buttons on our websites and ask that you consider this when you visit them. Nothing is too small. We thank you for all your support and your considerations … (TLB)

••••

Comment Policy: As a privately owned web site, we reserve the right to remove comments that contain spam, advertising, vulgarity, threats of violence, racism, or personal/abusive attacks on other users. This also applies to trolling, the use of more than one alias, or just intentional mischief. Enforcement of this policy is at the discretion of this websites administrators. Repeat offenders may be blocked or permanently banned without prior warning.

••••

Disclaimer: TLB websites contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of “fair use” in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, health, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than “fair use” you must request permission from the copyright owner.

••••

Disclaimer: The information and opinions shared are for informational purposes only including, but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material are not intended as medical advice or instruction. Nothing mentioned is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.