Overview
- Portuguese voters choose a successor to Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa in a first round with 11 candidates and no clear favorite to surpass 50%.
- Recent polls diverge: state-broadcaster RTP’s survey put André Ventura near 24% and first, while a Euronews poll had António José Seguro leading at 20.7% with three right-of-center rivals clustered just behind.
- Turnout intention is unusually high and uncertainty persists, with more than 90% saying they will vote yet roughly a third still undecided in the latest polling.
- Ventura, a Chega candidate known for hard-line anti-immigration messaging and a campaign poster ordered down for targeting Roma, draws the highest rejection rates and is projected to lose any runoff.
- The presidency carries real power—command over the armed forces, the ability to dissolve parliament and to veto or refer laws—so the runoff expected in early February could shape Portugal’s political course.