Presidential elections are being held in Portugal in 2026, with a first round on 18 January and a second round scheduled for 8 February 2026. The President of Portugal has a largely ceremonial role, with no executive power, but can veto new laws and dissolve Parliament. The incumbent president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa (supported by the Social Democratic Party (PSD)) had already served two terms, so was not eligible for re-election. Fourteen potential candidates submitted formal applications, of which eleven were certified to appear on the ballot paper. They included the former coordinator of Portugal's COVID-19 vaccination task force Henrique Gouveia e Melo, who ran as an independent, and former PSD leader Luís Marques Mendes. The Socialist Party (PS) supported the campaign of their former party leader António José Seguro. André Ventura, the leader of Chega (CH), also stood. Other candidates supported by parties were the MEPs João Cotrim de Figueiredo for Liberal Initiative (IL) and Catarina Martins for Left Bloc (BE); the former MP António Filipe for the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP); and the MP Jorge Pinto for LIVRE (L). In the first round, António José Seguro (PS) won the most votes with 31%, while André Ventura (CH) came second with 23.5%. Because no candidate reached the required 50% threshold, Seguro and Ventura will face each other in a second round run-off on 8 February. This will be only the second time that a direct Portuguese presidential election goes to a second round, after the 1986 election. Candidates eliminated in the first round included Cotrim de Figueiredo (IL) who came third with 16%, and Gouveia e Melo (independent) fourth with 12%. Marques Mendes (PSD) received 11%, the lowest in Portuguese history for a government supported presidential candidate, surpassing the previous negative record set by Mário Soares in 2006. Catarina Martins (BE) received 2%, the lowest for a female candidate in a presidential election, while António Filipe (PCP) received less than 2%, the Communists worst result in a presidential election. Overall voter turnout (including overseas) in the first round was 52 percent, thirteen percentage points higher than the previous election. In Portugal itself, turnout was 61.50 percent, an increase of 16.1 percentage points compared to 2021, and the highest since 2006. == Background == Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was re-elected in January 2021, securing nearly 61 percent of the votes in the first round. He took the oath of office on March 9, 2021, and continued the period of cohabitation with Socialist Party Prime Minister António Costa, which lasted until April 2024. This cohabitation ended after the March 2024 elections, which saw Luís Montenegro, from the Social Democratic Party (the same party as the President), nominated as prime minister. Within the Portuguese political system, the president serves as the head of state with primarily ceremonial duties, though the president holds some political influence and can dissolve Parliament during a crisis. The president resides at the Belém Palace in Lisbon. Since the Carnation Revolution, all Portuguese presidents have been re-elected for a second term and never tried a third, with one exception: Mário Soares (PS), who sought a non-consecutive third term in the 2006 presidential election but lost. Thus, every president since 1976 has served exactly two terms. During his decade-long presidency, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa suffered a considerable decline in his public approval according to polling. === Pre-campaign === Admiral Henrique Gouveia e Melo, who rose to prominence as the coordinator of Portugal's COVID-19 Vaccination Task Force, quickly emerged as a leading candidate in early polling as far back as mid-2022. Over the next two years, he repeatedly oscillated in his public statements regarding his intentions to run, fueling speculation. By November 2024, having declined to be renominated as Chief of the Naval Staff, Gouveia e Melo started preparing his path for the presidency, signaling the support from local politicians and stating that he didn't want the support of any party. He ultimately announced his candidacy in May 2025. On the traditional centre-right, the Social Democratic Party had several high-profile potential candidates for the presidency, including the former prime ministers Pedro Passos Coelho and Pedro Santana Lopes, as well as former party leaders Luís Marques Mendes and Rui Rio, and former Minister Leonor Beleza. Among these, Marques Mendes soon emerged as the leading candidate, announcing his candidacy in February 2025 and receiving the support of the party in May 2025. Meanwhile, the CDS–PP, the junior partner of PSD in the AD coalition, hoped that the former leader and former deputy prime minister, Paulo Portas, would run but, after he declined to seek the presidency, CDS declared support for Marques Mendes, despite internal divisions. On the centre-left, Pedro Nuno Santos announced in January 2024, after being elected as Secretary-general of the Socialist Party, that he wanted the party to support a presidential candidate in the 2026 election, as the last time the PS had supported a candidate was Manuel Alegre in the 2011 presidential election. Multiple socialist figures soon emerged as potential contenders, but, as the political landscape changed, many of these started losing momentum. Former president of the Assembly of the Republic, Augusto Santos Silva, was considered as a strong candidate until he lost his seat as an MP in the March 2024 legislative election. The governor of the Bank of Portugal, Mário Centeno, was also considered as a strong contender, due to his popularity as Minister of Finance, until he declined to run in January 2025. By then, two main candidates emerged to represent the traditional left, the former PS leader, António José Seguro, who had been out of politics since 2014, and the former director-general of the International Organization for Migration, António Vitorino, as a group of high-profile socialists rejected the possibility of Seguro being the party's candidate, even suggesting an internal referendum to decide the party's presidential candidate, an idea that was ultimately rejected. Vitorino, who had by then failed to gain much support within the party's leadership as was expected, ended up backing away from the race following the poor results of the PS in the May 2025 legislative election, paving the way for Seguro as the clear favorite to receive the party's support in the presidential election. Despite the attempt from Seguro's opponents to draft the runner-up of the 2016 presidential election, António Sampaio da Nóvoa, and a final failed effort from Santos Silva to gain support to run, António José Seguro ended up announcing his candidacy in June 2025, receiving an almost unanimous support of the PS following the 2025 Portuguese local elections. On the left of the PS, the absence of Sampaio da Nóvoa from the race eliminated the prospects for a united left front, prompting each party to run their own candidates, despite attempts from Seguro supporters for a single left-wing candidacy. The Communist Party announced the candidacy of former vice president of the Assembly of the Republic, António Filipe, in June 2025, with Filipe resolutely stating that he would not withraw from the race. Catarina Martins, former leader of the Left Bloc, and incumbent MEP, entered the race in September 2025, followed in October by Jorge Pinto, a LIVRE MP from Porto. André Ventura, the leader of the radical right-wing populist Chega, and a candidate in the previous presidential election, announced his candidacy in January 2025. Following the unprecedent strong results in the May 2025 legislative election, that made him the leader of the opposition, Ventura considered alternative candidates, such as Passos Coelho, the former CDS leader Manuel Monteiro, Major general Isidro Morais Pereira, and even considered the idea of supporting Gouveia e Melo. Nonetheless, Ventura ended up confirming his own candidacy in September 2025. For the liberals, with Rui Rocha's re-election as leader of the Liberal Initiative, parliamentary leader Mariana Leitão was initially designated as the party's presidential candidate. However, Rocha later resigned as party leader following the 2025 legislative election, and Leitão shifted her focus to run for the liberals leadership, withdrawing from the presidential race. In August, former leader and incumbent liberal MEP, João Cotrim de Figueiredo, announced his candidacy, becoming a major right-wing contender, precluding figures, like outgoing mayor of Porto Rui Moreira, from entering the race. Both People Animals Nature and Together for the People decided not to present or back any candidate for the first round of the election, while PAN has said they would likely support a candidate in the second round. Despite that, both Inês Sousa Real and Filipe Sousa, sole deputies from both parties, supported Seguro in the first round. == Electoral system == To stand for election, candidates must be of Portuguese origin and over 35 years old, gather 7,500 signatures of support one month before the election, and submit them to the Constitutional Court of Portugal. Then, the Constitutional Court has to certify if the candidacies submitted meet the requirements to appear on the ballot. A candidate must receive a majority of votes (50% plus one vote) to be elected. If no candidate achieves a majority in the first round, a runoff election (i.e., second round, held between the two candidates who receive the most votes in the first round) has to be held. The highest number of candidacies ever accepted was ten, in 2016. Since the Carnation Revolution, there has only ever been a single runoff election, in the 1986 Portuguese presidential election, when Diogo Freitas do Amaral (46.3% of votes in the first round and 48.8% in the second) lost to Mário Soares (25.4% in the first round and 51.2% in the second). === Early voting === Voters were also able to vote early, with voting starting on January 5 for hospitalized and incarcerated voters and on January 6 for Portuguese citizens living abroad, ending for both groups on January 8.. For citizens living in Portugal early voting occurred on 11 January, one week before election day, with voters having to register between 4 and 8 January to be eligible to cast an early ballot. By the 8 January deadline, 218,481 voters (around 2% of the total of voters) had requested to vote early, a number lower than that recorded in 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic. == Candidates == === Official candidates === Candidates who formalized their candidacy and submitted enough signatures to the Constitutional Court that were accepted. The deadline to submit candidacies to the Court was 18 December 2025. Candidates are ordered by how they will appear on the ballot paper. === Rejected === Ricardo Sousa – former City Councillor in Paredes (2021–2025) (rejected for lack of enough valid signatures); Joana Amaral Dias – supported by the National Democratic Alternative (ADN); former MP (2003) (rejected for lack of legal documents and enough valid signatures); José Cardoso – supported by the Liberal Social Party (PLS); President of the PLS since 2025 (rejected for lack of enough valid signatures). === Unsuccessful candidates === === Withdrew candidacy === Mariana Leitão – incumbent President of the Liberal Initiative (since 2025); incumbent MP (since 2024) (endorsed Cotrim) Tim Vieira – businessman; investor on the TV show Shark Tank on SIC; founder of Brave Generation Academy Pedro Tinoco de Faria – retired Lieutenant colonel; businessman; writer; (endorsed André Ventura, became his campaign chair) Vitorino Silva – former President of React, Include, Recycle (2019–2022); former President of the Parish Council of Rans (1994–2002); candidate in the 2016 and 2021 presidential elections(endorsed Seguro) === Declined === Ana Gomes – former MEP (2014–2019); finished in second place in the previous presidential election (endorsed António José Seguro) António Costa – incumbent president of the European Council since 2024 ; former prime minister (2015–2024); former secretary-general of the Socialist Party (PS) (2014–2024); minister in the 13th, 14th and 17th governments; former MP (1991–2005; 2015–2024) António Guterres – incumbent Secretary-General of the United Nations since 2017; former prime minister (1995–2002); former secretary-general of the Socialist Party (PS) (1992–2002); former MP (1976–2002) António Sampaio da Nóvoa – former member of the Council of State (2022–2024); former Permanent Delegate to UNESCO (2018–2021); former rector of the University of Lisbon (2006–2013); finished in second place in the 2016 presidential election António Vitorino – former director-general of the International Organization for Migration (2018–2023); former European Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs (1999–2004); former minister of the presidency and of defence (1995–1997); former judge of the Constitutional Court (1989–1994); former MP (1980–1989, 1995–1999, 2005–2009) Augusto Santos Silva – former president of the Assembly of the Republic (2022–2024); minister in the 14th, 17th, 18th, 21st, 22nd governments; former MP (1995–2024) (endorsed António José Seguro) Carlos César – incumbent member of the Council of State since 2016; incumbent President of the Socialist Party since 2014; former president of the Regional Government of the Azores (1996–2012); former MP (1987–1991; 2015–2019) (endorsed António José Seguro) Carlos Moedas – incumbent mayor of Lisbon since 2021; member of the Council of State since 2024; former European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation (2014–2019); former MP (2011–2014) (endorsed Luís Marques Mendes) Cristina Ferreira – television presenter; businesswoman; celebrity Elisa Ferreira – former European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms (2019–2024); minister in the 13th and 14th governments; former MEP (2004–2016); former MP (2002–2004) Fernando Medina – former minister of finance (2022–2024); former mayor of Lisbon (2015–2021) (endorsed António José Seguro) Francisco Assis – MEP since 2024 (and previously in 2004–2009 and 2014–2019); former MP (1995–2004; 2009–2014; 2024); former mayor of Amarante (1989–1995) (endorsed António José Seguro) Isidro Morais Pereira – Major general; retired Army officer; political commentator João Ferreira – former MEP (2009–2021); presidential candidate in the previous election (endorsed António Filipe) José Luís Carneiro – incumbent Secretary-general of the Socialist Party (since 2025); incumbent MP since 2024 (also in 2005); former minister of internal administration (2022–2024); former mayor of Baião (2005–2015) (endorsed António José Seguro) José Manuel Durão Barroso – former president of the European Commission (2004–2014); former prime minister (2002–2004); former president of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) (1998–2004); former minister of foreign affairs (1992–1995); former MP (1985–2004) (endorsed Luís Marques Mendes) José Pedro Aguiar-Branco – incumbent president of the Assembly of the Republic since 2024; incumbent MP since 2024 (also in 2005–2019); minister in the 16th, 19th and 20th governments Leonor Beleza – incumbent member of the Council of State since 2008; former minister of health (1985–1990); former MP (1983–1985; 1987–1995; 2002–2005) (endorsed Luís Marques Mendes) Luís Filipe Menezes – incumbent mayor of Vila Nova de Gaia since 2025 (also 1997–2013); former president of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) (2007–2008) (endorsed Luís Marques Mendes) Mário Centeno – incumbent governor of the Bank of Portugal since 2020; former president of the Eurogroup (2018–2020); former minister of finance (2015–2020) Marisa Matias – former MP (2024–2025); former MEP (2009–2024); presidential candidate in the 2016 and 2021 presidential elections (endorsed Catarina Martins) Paulo Portas – former leader of CDS – People's Party (CDS–PP) (1998–2005, 2007–2016); former deputy prime minister (2013–2015); minister in the 15th, 16th, 19th and 20th governments; former MP (1995–2016) Paulo Raimundo – incumbent secretary-general of the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) since 2022; incumbent MP since 2024 (endorsed António Filipe) Pedro Passos Coelho – former prime minister (2011–2015); former president of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) (2010–2018); former MP (1991–1999; 2011–2018) Pedro Santana Lopes – incumbent mayor of Figueira da Foz since 2021 (also in 1998–2002); former prime minister (2004–2005); former mayor of Lisbon (2002–2004; 2005); former president of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) (2004–2005); former secretary of state of the presidency (1985–1987) and of culture (1990–1994); former MP (1980–1995, 2001–2002, 2005–2009); former MEP (1985–1987) Rodrigo Saraiva – incumbent Vice President of the Assembly of the Republic since 2024; incumbent MP since 2022; former leader of the IL parliamentary caucus (2022–2024) Rui Moreira – former Mayor of Porto (2013–2025) (endorsed Luís Marques Mendes) Rui Rio – former president of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) (2018–2022); former mayor of Porto (2002–2013); former MP (1991–2002; 2019–2022) (endorsed Henrique Gouveia e Melo) Rui Rocha – former leader of the Liberal Initiative (IL) (2023–2025); incumbent MP since 2022 (endorsed João Cotrim de Figueiredo) Rui Tavares – incumbent MP since 2022; former MEP (2009–2014) (endorsed Jorge Pinto) Tiago Mayan – former president of the Parish of Aldoar, Foz do Douro e Nevogilde (2021–2024); presidential candidate in the previous election == Campaign == === Issues === The first round campaign was marked by issues like the state of healthcare in Portugal; immigration; the proposed changes to labour laws; the use of presidential powers, such as the use of the power to dissolve parliament; constitutional reform; foreign policy, being highlighted the war in Ukraine, the presence of Portugal in NATO, the involvement of Donald Trump in European affairs and the situation in Venezuela; plus the importance of political stability to the country. During the one-on-one debates, the issue of transparency also arose, with PSD supported candidate, Luís Marques Mendes, being strongly questioned about his business past and links to corporations and the government. On 23 December 2025, a court in Lisbon ordered Chega presidential candidate André Ventura to remove campaign posters targeting the Romani people within 24 hours, ruling that the materials are discriminatory and may incite hatred, or face daily fines of €2,500 (US$2,940) per poster. Also, the last few days of the first round campaign were dominated by an accusation of sexual harassment against João Cotrim de Figueiredo by a former female IL parliamentary aid, with the candidate denying the accusation and even filing a lawsuit against the woman who accused him, despite new revelations and contradictions being reported. === Candidates' slogans === === Candidates' debates === The three main TV channels in Portugal, RTP1, SIC and TVI, agreed to host 28 one-on-one debates between the 8 main candidates on the ballot. However, this format was challenged, as the three main broadcasters were accused of forcing an exclusivity agreement so that the debates only take place on these three channels. CMTV filed a complaint to the Electoral Commission (CNE) against RTP, SIC and TVI, accusing the networks of an "anti-competitive matrix". The channels denied such agreement, but the media regulator ruled in favour of CMTV and advised for the debate format to include the plaintiff. Despite this advise, the 3 channels decided to not change the format. Radio stations also hosted a debate with the 8 main candidates, while RTP1 hosted a debate with all 11 candidates on the ballot. == Endorsements == === Party endorsements in the second round === == Opinion polling == === First round === ==== Polling aggregations ==== == Campaign budgets == == Voter turnout == The table below shows voter turnout throughout election day including voters from Overseas. === First round === == Results == === National summary === === Results by district === ==== First round ==== === Demographics === ==== First round ==== == Notes == == References == == External links == Official results site, Portuguese Justice Ministry Portuguese Electoral Commission ERC – Official publication of polls