The AD – a coalition of the PSD and CDS-PP parties – emerged victorious in the early legislative elections held in the district of Coimbra on Sunday, securing four deputies. This marks a shift as the coalition “stole” one mandate from the Socialist Party (PS), leaving it with three deputies, while Chega maintained its two seats.
According to provisional results, the AD triumphed in 16 of the 17 municipalities within the Coimbra district, an increase from the nine municipalities it won in 2024. The PS, which previously dominated the electoral circle, only managed to win in Soure.
The AD garnered 34.38% of the votes, an increase of 3.8% from 2024. The PS followed with 27.39%, a decrease of 5.3% from the previous elections. Chega received 18.39%, nearly a 3% increase from 2024. Other parties’ results were Iniciativa Liberal (IL) with 4.44%, Livre with 4.06%, CDU with 2.51%, Bloco de Esquerda (BE) with 2.17%, Alternativa Democrática Nacional (ADN) with 1.62%, and PAN with 1.22%.
Paulo Leitão highlighted in a statement that the AD’s strong performance is attributed to the ongoing efforts of Luís Montenegro’s government and the work of deputies elected last year. “It is an excellent stimulus and a good indicator for the upcoming elections, which are the municipal ones, although they are not comparable electoral acts,” he remarked.
João Portugal, the leader of the Coimbra district branch of the PS, acknowledged the failure to maintain four deputies and to win in the district. “The party must respect the electoral results and understand that the electorate has sent a message to the Socialist Party. Although it was the district where Chega had the lowest voting percentage in the country, it remains a defeat for us: we lost a deputy, we did not win the district, and we lost the country,” he stated.
He confessed that this outcome was unexpected, noting that the PS in Coimbra typically scores between 2% to 4% above the national average. “Coimbra also couldn’t resist this current swing and was swept away by the national context. Now, the PS must conduct a thorough reflection and understand what happened nationally and also more locally, although I believe that the electorate was unhappy with the prospect of new elections, which also reflected a protest vote,” he added.
Chega was the third most voted force in the Coimbra district, although it managed to gain more than five thousand votes compared to 2024, it recorded its lowest percentage of votes there nationally. Paulo Seco, leader of the Coimbra district for Chega and an elected deputy, admitted that the result was “slightly below expectations” in a district known for being “extremely socialist.”
“All 17 municipalities in the district were predominantly governed by the Socialist Party, and it has been quite a struggle over the past six years to shift people’s perspectives even slightly. Despite all the challenges, we managed to increase our votes and fell short by less than 500 votes to elect a third deputy,” he said.
He further noted that Chega did not meet its objective for these early legislative elections in Coimbra, which included electing a woman to represent the district’s women in this political context for the first time. “Still, this outcome only doubles our responsibility in the next elections, whether municipal, which are not comparable to the voting index, or in upcoming legislative elections,” Seco concluded.
