The President of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), Luís Montenegro, will lead his party’s list for the electoral district of Aveiro in the upcoming early legislative elections scheduled for May 18. The list, revealed on Wednesday, prominently features eleven cabinet ministers.
Pedro Reis, the Minister of Economy, is designated as the lead candidate for the district of Castelo Branco, while the Minister of Justice, Rita Júdice, will head the list for Coimbra.
The Minister of Finance, Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, will lead the list for Lisbon, and the Minister of the Presidency, António Leitão Amaro, will be the frontrunner for Viseu.
Paulo Rangel, the Minister of State and Foreign Affairs, is set to head the list for Porto, with Ana Paula Martins, the current Minister of Health, leading in Vila Real.
José Manuel Fernandes, the Minister of Agriculture, will run for the Europe electoral district, and Maria Graça Carvalho, the Minister of Environment, is the prime candidate for Faro.
Margarida Balseiro Lopes, the Minister of Youth, is set to lead in Leiria, and the Minister of Territorial Cohesion, Manuel Castro Almeida, will front the list for Portalegre. Meanwhile, the Minister of Education, Fernando Alexandre, is at the top in Santarém; José Manuel Fernandes will also represent the circle of Europe, and Maria da Graça Carvalho will lead in Faro.
Furthermore, the President of the Assembly of the Republic, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco, is confirmed to lead the PSD list for Viana do Castelo, as he did in the 2024 elections.
The Secretary-General of the PSD and Parliamentary Leader, Hugo Soares, will again compete in the Braga district.
Hernâni Dias returns as the head of the list for the district of Bragança, following his controversial departure as Secretary of State for Local Administration and Spatial Planning.
Miguel Pinto Luz, the current Minister of Infrastructure and Housing and former number one for Faro, is notably absent from the leading candidates in the PSD’s announcement.
Familiar faces like Gonçalo Valente in Beja, José Cesário for overseas districts, Dulcineia Moura in Guarda, and Teresa Morais in Setúbal will reprise their roles as front-runners.
Francisco Figueira will lead in Évora, replacing Sónia Ramos, who will run for a municipal position in Estremoz.
These candidates received approval during Wednesday’s National Political Commission meeting of the PSD and will be voted on with other legislative candidates at the party’s National Council, set for 9:00 PM at a hotel in Lisbon.
The list does not include heads of lists for the Azores and Madeira, as these are approved by their respective regional political commissions.
For the 2024 elections, the PSD retains nine heads of lists in the same districts from the previously mentioned 20: Beja, Braga, Bragança, Coimbra, Guarda, Setúbal, Viana do Castelo, Viseu, and the overseas district.
Prime Minister and PSD leader Luís Montenegro remains at the forefront but shifts from Lisbon to his home district of Aveiro, where he served as a deputy for 16 years.
Compared to 2024, the PSD has increased the number of women leading lists from five to six. The female candidates are Teresa Morais, Rita Júdice, Dulcineia Moura, Margarida Balseiro Lopes, Maria da Graça Carvalho, and Ana Paula Martins.
[Updated news at 19:57]
