This combination of pictures created on February 8, 2026 shows Socialist candidate António José Seguro (L) casting his vote in Caldas da Rainha and Chega candidate Andre Ventura voting in Lisbon, on February 8, 2026, during the second round of Portugal’s presidential election.
PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA / AFP
The growing support for Chega’s André Ventura still signals a rising right-wing wave in the country.
Socialist António José Seguro surged to victory in the second and deciding round of Portugal’s presidential election, with roughly 66.5% of the vote to André Ventura’s 33.5% with about 98% of ballots counted on Sunday evening.
Despite Ventura’s breakout showing and the growing influence of his Chega party, the mainstream center-right chose to abandon the prospect of real systemic change in favor of preserving the conventional order by throwing their support behind Seguro—even if that meant empowering the very political current it claimed to oppose.
Ventura’s support from voters, however, was still stronger than Chega’s prior general election share—22.76% in May 2025—which in turn surpassed both pre-election polls and the party’s previous results. The growing numbers for the national conservative party indicate that the political Right is still on the rise in Portugal, a country once seen as resistant to such trends.
Voter turnout was around 50%, compared to 58.3% in the last parliamentary election. Due to the impact from several large storms and flooding, voting in a small number of areas was postponed to next Sunday, February 15. The remaining votes are not expected to affect the final outcome.
This was the first Portuguese presidential runoff in 40 years, following the first round, on January 18th, where no candidate hit 50%. Official full results were still being finalized at the time of writing, but Seguro’s victory appeared clear.
