António José Seguro won in 225 of the country’s 308 municipalities, seizing territory that had belonged to the AD and Chega in the legislative elections. Even so, André Ventura was the winner in 80 municipalities, including the whole of Madeira. Marques Mendes, meanwhile, only managed to receive the most votes in three municipalities.
Who won in each municipality: Seguro won 160 municipalities from the AD and 30 from Chega; Ventura won 80 municipalities, including all of Madeira; Mendes only won three.
Monday, 19 January 2026RSS
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Context & Explainers
Chega ("Enough") is a Portuguese far-right populist party founded in 2019 by André Ventura. It positions itself as an anti-establishment movement against what it calls a "rotten and corrupt system" of PS-PSD dominance. The party surged from 1.3% in 2019 to 22.8% in May 2025, becoming parliament's second-largest force with 60 seats. Chega's core platform emphasizes strict immigration control—ending automatic CPLP residency, deporting non-independent immigrants, implementing job-market quotas, and requiring five-year social security contributions before benefit access. It advocates radical constitutional reform, including reducing parliament to 100 members, abolishing the prime minister position for a presidential system, and dismantling public healthcare. Law-and-order policies include life imprisonment and chemical castration proposals.
The party is defined by inflammatory anti-Romani rhetoric, with Ventura convicted multiple times for discrimination. Chega maintains international alignments with European far-right figures including Marine Le Pen, Santiago Abascal, and Matteo Salvini. Mainstream Portuguese parties, including Prime Minister Luís Montenegro's government, have imposed a cordon sanitaire, refusing coalition with Chega despite its parliamentary strength.
