Overview
- With 98.75% of ballots counted, António José Seguro has about 31% and André Ventura roughly 23.6%, sending both to a February 8 runoff.
- Liberal candidate João Cotrim de Figueiredo placed third near 15.8%, with Henrique Gouveia e Melo and Luís Marques Mendes trailing further back.
- Prime Minister Luís Montenegro declined to endorse either finalist after his PSD-backed candidate fell short, leaving key electorates up for grabs.
- Ventura’s advance caps Chega’s rapid ascent to Portugal’s second-largest parliamentary party and follows a campaign centered on anti-immigration themes.
- Portugal’s presidency is largely non-executive but carries veto and dissolution powers, and a runoff has occurred only once before in the democratic era, in 1986.