LISBON, Portugal — António José Seguro won the Portugal presidential election runoff in a landslide Sunday, defeating far-right challenger André Ventura with 66.7% of the vote as the count neared completion. The longtime Socialist built a broad coalition across the political center to block Ventura’s anti-establishment bid for the presidency, Feb. 8, 2026.
As returns rolled in, the Interior Ministry’s election administration site showed Seguro holding a roughly two-to-one advantage nationwide. Election officials said heavy rain and flooding forced some localities to postpone voting until Feb. 15, a delay posted by Portugal’s National Elections Commission.
Seguro, 63, framed the result as a vote for democratic guardrails and political calm after years of snap votes and minority governments. “The response the Portuguese people gave today … leaves me moved and proud of our nation,” he told reporters, according to Reuters. The same report said Seguro will become Portugal’s first Socialist head of state in two decades.
Ventura conceded defeat but promised to keep pressing his agenda on immigration and corruption. “I tried to show there’s a different way … that we needed a different kind of president,” he told reporters, according to the Associated Press. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen congratulated Seguro and said Portugal’s voice for shared European values “remains strong,” AP reported.
Portugal presidential election: what Seguro’s mandate means
The Portugal presidential election is often viewed as largely ceremonial, but the head of state holds meaningful tools in a crisis, including vetoing legislation and dissolving parliament to call early elections. That authority can become decisive when governments are fragile and parliament is fractured.
Seguro campaigned as a mediator who would cooperate with Prime Minister Luís Montenegro’s center-right minority government while insisting the presidency stay above day-to-day party combat. He also signaled he could use the leverage of the office on big policy fights — including proposed labor code changes that unions oppose — underscoring how the Portugal presidential election winner can shape outcomes even without executive control.
Portugal presidential election and the far-right test
Ventura’s loss did not erase the momentum of Chega, the anti-immigration party he founded less than seven years ago. Its rise accelerated in the May 2025 snap parliamentary election, when it notched record gains as the governing center-right alliance again fell short of an outright majority, according to Reuters’ account of that vote.
The runoff was set in motion after Ventura placed second behind Seguro in the first round of the Portugal presidential election and forced a rare rematch, as AP detailed in its first-round coverage. In the final stretch, prominent conservatives — including former national leaders — publicly rallied behind Seguro to keep the far right out of the presidency, a strategy described in a Reuters preview ahead of the runoff.
Seguro is set to replace outgoing President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa next month. The task now is to translate a decisive Portugal presidential election victory into steadier politics — without deepening the polarization that helped fuel Ventura’s rise.
