Center-left Socialist candidate António José Seguro won Portugal’s presidential runoff in a decisive result over hard-right populist André Ventura, according to official counts released as voting tallied Sunday with 99% of ballots processed. Seguro captured 66.7% of the vote to Ventura’s 33.3%, in a race that Portugal-watchers viewed as a test of how deeply support for Ventura’s brash style had taken root.
The contest offered a direct referendum on Ventura’s surge and his Chega (Enough) party’s rise in Portugal’s political system. The Associated Press reported that Ventura’s approach had struck a chord with voters and helped Chega become the second-biggest party in Portugal’s parliament after the May 18 general election.
Seguro, a longtime Socialist politician, campaigned as a moderate who would seek cooperation with Portugal’s center-right minority government. The AP said he explicitly repudiated Ventura’s anti-establishment and anti-immigrant messaging as part of that pitch to mainstream voters.
On the international stage, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen congratulated Seguro and posted that “Portugal’s voice for our shared European values remains strong.” The message signaled broader European attention on the outcome, coming as Europe faces what the AP described as a rightward shift in recent years.
In his concession-related comments after the result, Ventura rejected political accommodation and said he would pursue a combative path. He told reporters, “I tried to show there’s a different way … that we needed a different kind of president,” and he said he would keep working to bring about a political “transformation” in Portugal.
Ventura’s campaign emphasized what he called excessive immigration, with the AP describing how foreign workers had become more visible in Portugal in recent years. Ventura said, “Portugal is ours,” and during the campaign put up billboards around the country that included the messages “This isn’t Bangladesh” and “Immigrants shouldn’t be allowed to live on welfare.”
The AP described Portugal’s presidential role as largely ceremonial, with the head of state traditionally mediating disputes and defusing tensions. It added that the presidency still has influence through tools such as the ability to veto legislation from parliament, even though that veto can be overturned, and the power—described in Portuguese political jargon as an “atomic bomb”—to dissolve parliament and call early elections.
Portugal’s election comes after a period of political instability. In May, the country held its third general election in three years, amid what the AP characterized as the worst bout of instability for decades, with steadying governance now a key challenge for the next president.
Seguro is set to take office next month, replacing President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who has served the constitutional limit of two five-year terms.