As the local elections on October 12 approach, Chega emerges as the party most heavily investing in its parliamentarians, with 44 candidates for mayoral positions and 15 for municipal assemblies. Only the party leader, André Ventura, is exempt from candidacy within the parliamentary group.
Chega aims to win the national elections and secure municipal leaderships across the country. Success would necessitate a reconfiguration of its parliamentary representation, given the incompatibility between executive roles in municipalities and serving as a Member of Parliament.
While the full list of candidates is yet to be revealed, Chega has confirmed the candidacies of Pedro Pinto for Faro, Rita Matias for Sintra, Rui Paulo Sousa for Amadora, Bruno Nunes for Loures, and former PSD member Rui Cristina for Albufeira.
Besides Chega, only the PSD, IL, and CDS-PP have members of parliament leading local executive lists.
The Social Democrats are the second largest parliamentary group vying for local leadership, with seven deputies running for mayoral positions who must resign from parliament upon victory: Cristóvão Norte (Faro), Emídio Guerreiro (Gondomar), Hugo Oliveira (Caldas da Rainha), Gonçalo Valente (Ourique), Ricardo Araújo (Guimarães), Sofia Carreira (Leiria), and Sonia dos Reis (Grândola).
IL proposes its former leader, Rui Rocha, for the Braga municipality, while CDS-PP puts forward its parliamentary leader, Paulo Núncio, for Vila Franca de Xira.
On the left, under the leadership of Pedro Nuno Santos, the PS has excluded parliamentarians from leading municipal agendas, therefore, none are running for mayoral positions.
Similarly, none of the 12 deputies from Livre, PCP, Bloco de Esquerda, PAN, and JPP are candidates. However, the communists are fielding current MEP João Oliveira as their lead candidate in Évora.
