Portugal is set to hold a presidential runoff for only the second time in its history after no candidate was projected to win more than 50% of the vote in Sunday’s first round, according to exit polls. Voters went to the polls amid growing political fragmentation and rising support for far-right candidate Andre Ventura of the Chega party.
Exit polls conducted by ICS-ISCTE-Pitagorica showed opposition Socialist Party candidate Antonio Jose Seguro in the lead with between 30.8% and 35.2% of the vote. Ventura followed with between 19.9% and 24.1%, placing both candidates on course to advance to a second round scheduled for Feb. 8. Joao Cotrim de Figueiredo of the Liberal Initiative party trailed with between 16.3% and 20.1%, while independent candidate Henrique Gouveia e Melo and ruling Social Democratic Party contender Luis Marques Mendes were each projected to secure around 9% to 12% of the vote.
Incumbent conservative President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who won nearly 60% of the vote in the 2021 election, is serving his second and final five-year term. Eleven candidates are competing to succeed him. Portugal has held a presidential runoff only once before, in 1986, when former Socialist Prime Minister Mario Soares overturned a first-round defeat to defeat Freitas do Amaral. This year’s campaign unfolded amid debates over social inequality, low wages, housing shortages, migrant rights, and labor policies under Prime Minister Luis Montenegro’s conservative government. Around 11 million voters are registered for the election, including about 1.6 million living abroad.
