The centre-left socialist candidate wins against the populists in the Portuguese presidential elections

LISBON, Portugal – Center-left socialist candidate António José Seguro won a resounding victory over far-right populist André Ventura in Portugal’s second presidential election on Sunday, with 99% of the votes counted, according to official results.

Seguro won a five-year term in Lisbon’s riverside “pink palace” with 66.7% of the vote, compared to 33.3% for Ventura.

The vote was an opportunity to test support for Ventura’s brash style, which has struck a chord with voters and helped make his Chega (Enough) party the second largest in the Portuguese parliament, and to gauge public interest in Europe’s increasing shift to the right in recent years.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen congratulated Seguro and said on social media that “Portugal’s voice for our shared European values ​​remains strong.”

Seguro, a longtime socialist politician, positioned himself as a moderate candidate who will work with Portugal’s center-right minority government, rejecting Ventura’s anti-establishment and anti-immigrant tirades.

He received the support of other mainstream politicians on the left and right who want to stem the rising populist tide.

In Portugal, the president is largely a figurehead without executive power. Traditionally, the head of state stands above the political fray, mediates disputes and defuses tensions.

However, the president is an influential voice and has a number of powerful tools, allowing him to veto legislation passed by Parliament, although the veto can be overturned. The head of state also possesses what is called an ‘atomic bomb’ in Portuguese political jargon, the power to dissolve parliament and call early elections.

In May, Portugal held its third general election in three years, during the country’s worst period of political instability in decades, and steadying the ship is a key challenge for the next president.

Presidential candidate Andre Ventura, of the populist Chega party, casts his vote during the Portuguese presidential elections in Lisbon, Sunday, February 8, 2026.

Ana Brigida/AP

hide caption

change caption

Ana Brigida/AP

An eloquent and theatrical politician, Ventura rejected political accommodations in favor of a more combative stance.

Ventura said he will continue to work to bring about a political “transformation” in Portugal.

“I was trying to show that there is another way… that we needed a different kind of president,” he told reporters.

Reaching the second round was already a milestone for Ventura and his party, which has recalibrated Portuguese politics.

One of Ventura’s main targets has been what he calls excessive immigration, as foreign workers have become increasingly conspicuous in Portugal in recent years.

“Portugal is ours,” he said.

During the campaign, Ventura placed billboards across the country reading: “This is not Bangladesh” and “Immigrants should not live on welfare.”

Although he founded his party less than seven years ago, the surge in public support made it the second-largest party in the Portuguese parliament in the May 18 general election.

Seguro will next month replace centre-right President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who has served the constitutional limit of two five-year terms.