Two brothers are vying for control of Aveiro’s city hall, one candidate switched allegiance from the CDU to Chega, and a flurry of new entries in Porto are among the surprising developments in the municipal election pre-campaign.
The municipal elections are scheduled for October 12.
Mayors elected by parties become independent candidates
In Mafra, in the Lisbon district, the electoral race began in November 2024 when the mayor (in office since June 2024) and leader of the local PSD branch, Hugo Moreira Luís, announced his candidacy for the city hall’s presidency for the party.
However, internal disagreements and changes in the local political committee, now led by José Bizarro, culminated in this new leader being chosen as the PSD’s top candidate.
Dissatisfied with the change in the social-democrats’ direction, which resulted in the withdrawal of political confidence in his municipal administration, Hugo Moreira Luís did not give up and announced his candidacy as an independent in June, dividing the PSD’s loyal electorate.
In the neighboring municipality of Alenquer, Pedro Folgado (PS) could not run again due to the term limit, sparking interest in the electoral race.
His deputy, Tiago Pedro, decided to run as an independent against the socialist João Nicolau, resulting in his dismissal from his position and duties, and dividing the socialist electorate.
Number two of Montenegro is number one of Menezes in Gaia
Former PSD leader and Vila Nova de Gaia council president Luís Filipe Menezes wishes to return to local government, 12 years later, with Foreign Affairs Minister Paulo Rangel leading the municipal assembly list.
Hailing from Gaia, the government number two under Luís Montenegro said during the candidacy announcement, “There are moments when we are called to return to our roots, even when we never left them. When we are called to go back to where we always were. This act of returning to the point where we always stood is a decision of huge scope, of tremendous demand and, I would say, without sparing words, it is an act of great courage.”
Noting that “many will judge” he was talking about himself, and admitting that it also applies to himself, Rangel stressed it applies more to Luís Filipe Menezes (president between 1997 and 2013), who “is returning to the territory he never left and where he always was.”
PSD’s woes in Setúbal
The candidacy of Dores Meira, former communist president of Setúbal’s city hall running as an independent in October, divided the PSD’s national structure, which declared support, and the local branch, which advocates “a separate and independent candidacy.”
Dores Meira was president of Setúbal’s city hall, elected by the CDU, between 2009 and 2021, the year she ran — and lost — in Almada. She attempts a return to the district’s capital after leaving the PCP, leaving André Martins (PEV), her former deputy and current executive leader, as the left coalition’s candidate.
After months of tension, the PSD’s local branch announced in June it would not support or integrate her lists, a decision approved locally unanimously, but in July the National Political Committee declared support for her candidacy.
Alcácer do Sal: From CDU to Chega
For Alcácer do Sal’s city hall, in Setúbal district, Chega is fielding Virgílio Silva, 61 years old, previously elected as an independent by the CDU (PCP/PEV coalition) for the presidency of Torrão’s parish council in the 2013 municipal elections.
The candidate, a senior technician at Alcácer do Sal’s municipal archive and Chega member since 2021, served a four-year term from 2013 to 2017 as president elected by the CDU in that rural parish, and ran again in 2017 for the same political force but was not elected.
Aveiro City Hall: Souto vs Souto
In Aveiro, two brothers are engaged in an unusual contest for the city’s presidency, which has been led by a right-wing majority for 20 years.
Alberto Souto Miranda, who led the municipal executive between 1998 and 2005 and was Deputy Secretary of State for Communications, is the PS pick to reclaim the city hall lost to the right.
His main rival is his brother Luís Souto Miranda, current president of the municipal assembly, elected by the PSD, who was chosen by the party president, Luís Montenegro, to head the “More Aveiro Alliance” (PSD, CDS, and PPM).
Lusa | 16:15 – 12/07/2025
Albuquerque switches candidate in São Vicente
PSD/Madeira was first to announce candidates for the 11 municipalities of the autonomous region, some of whom were already replaced, such as in São Vicente, where the initially indicated top candidate was the current vice-president of the town, Deodato Moniz.
His name was confirmed in a regional political committee meeting of the PSD, and the candidate even took to the stage at the party’s annual event in Chão da Lagoa, held in July, during the presentation of the heads-of-list for the October 12 elections by the Madeira social-democratic leader, Miguel Albuquerque.
However, after some dissenting voices appeared in the town, and after social-democrat António Gonçalves publicly announced he would lead an independent candidacy, giving voice to that disagreement, this party member’s name was announced as the PSD’s head of the list. Deodato Moniz cited personal reasons for withdrawing from the race.
Forty years after Isaltino’s debut, PSD supports ex-member
Twenty years after disassociating from the PSD, for which he was already president of Oeiras’ city hall, the independent Isaltino Morais saw the party declare support for his third consecutive candidacy in the municipality, the last permitted by law.
Isaltino first governed the neighboring council of the capital 40 years ago, in 1985, elected through social-democratic lists, and, without the current term limit law, maintained the ‘orange’ victory until the 2001 elections, in a mandate he interrupted to join the PSD/CDS-PP Government.
In 2005, accused in a judicial process and without party support, then led by Marques Mendes, he won again in the municipality as an independent. Four years later, he served a prison sentence, but in 2017 — after confirming he was invited by the PSD to join the party’s lists, which he declined — he ran again.
As a mayor governing with an absolute majority and assigning portfolios to the PSD and PS, he considers “all support welcome.”
Lusa | 15:42 – 15/07/2025
Porto city hall candidate makes ‘money rain’ down on supporters
On June 7, during the candidacy announcement of Aníbal Pinto by New Right to Porto’s city hall, dozens of five-euro notes were dropped, from a drone, over supporters.
When asked about the money drop, Aníbal Pinto explained that “the greatest happiness is contributing to people’s happiness” and that, instead of announcing the candidacy in a hotel, his team decided that “part of the campaign budget will always revert in favor of supporters and Porto residents.”
This incident resulted in an anonymous complaint to the National Elections Commission, which referred it to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, as the money drop occurred before the elections were officially announced, thus outside the electoral campaign period.
Lusa | 22:58 – 07/06/2025
‘Dinosaur’ turns independent in Serpa’s communist stronghold
In Serpa, the last communist stronghold in the Beja district, with five announced candidacies, former president João Rocha, who led the council for over 30 years under the CDU banner, is running under an independent movement while former deputy João Dias leads the PCP/PEV coalition’s bid.
Considered a ‘dinosaur’ of local power, João Rocha, 74, governed municipalities for around 37 years, always in PCP-led coalitions, having chaired councils of Serpa (from 1979 to 2012, when he suspended his ninth consecutive term) and Beja, elected in 2013 (serving only one term).
Serpa, currently led by communist João Efigénio Palma, during his first term but not seeking re-election, is the only Beja district municipality constantly led by PCP-headed coalitions since the first municipal elections in 1976.
Tension within PS in Gondomar
The former Gondomar city council president and former PS local branch leader Marco Martins withdrew support for current president Luís Filipe Araújo’s candidacy, who succeeded him in January after Marco left for Transportes Metropolitanos do Porto.
Marco Martins accused the successor of changing the way he dealt with him, “cutting ties with the past, marginalizing people, and halting ongoing projects.”
The former mayor revealed he made himself available, at the successor’s and members’ request, to lead the municipal assembly list, a situation that changed with Luís Filipe Araújo’s “refusal.”
The municipal election race in Gondomar also includes former PS councilor and deputy Carlos Brás, who, after failing to be re-elected in the May legislative elections, announced an independent candidacy.
Alvito: PS + PCP = Independent
In Alvito, in Beja district, one of the five candidacies announced for the city hall, currently governed by the PS, is an independent movement led by two chairmen of the local parish councils, one socialist and one communist.
The Independent Movement of Alvito Municipality (MICA) has Dinis Pinto, 69, head of Alvito’s parish council since 2013, always elected by the CDU, fulfilling his third and last term in that role, as the top candidate for the municipality.
Second on the municipal list is Agostinho Mira, 71, leader of Vila Nova da Baronia’s parish council also for three terms, since 2013, elected by the PS.
Dinis Pinto explained to Lusa news agency that the decision to create MICA arose after both council leaders were not invited by their respective parties, from which they have resigned, to the list for these municipal elections: “They think we’re too old for politics, but we believe we can still give one more ‘run,’ where the people will decide.”
Internal strife and accusation against Montenegro mark Espinho’s pre-campaign
The electoral campaign in Espinho, in Aveiro district and Porto metropolitan area, is marked by internal conflicts within the PSD and PS structures, the only parties represented in the executive.
The first problem arose in the PS when the party opted to propose councilor Luís Canelas as the lead candidate over current president Maria Manuel Cruz, in power since 2023 following Miguel Reis’ resignation amid the Vortex Operation. The mayor then withdrew political confidence from her then vice-president, detached from the PS, and announced a candidacy as an independent.
Canelas’ nomination as the top candidate was contested by internal opponents, leading the socialist district judicial committee to annul the procedure, and he was strengthened by a new vote.
Regarding the PSD, Ricardo Sousa’s candidacy was locally approved in November 2024, unanimously, but in February the national social-democratic municipal coordinator indicated the party leadership would call the process, thus overriding the local party members’ choice.
In July, the national PSD instructed the district to communicate that Espinho’s lead candidate would be Jorge Ratola, former deputy municipal president of Aveiro, then an advisor to the prime minister, prompting Ricardo Sousa to contest this resolution, supported by over 110 members, attributing the change to “a personal score settlement” by Luís Montenegro.
The National Jurisdiction Council disagreed, so Ricardo Sousa lodged a complaint with the Constitutional Court and filed an injunction to halt the process until a final judicial decision.
CCDR keeps vice-president who is PS candidate in Porto
The North Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR) will retain its vice-president for Culture, Jorge Sobrado, after he joined Manuel Pizarro’s (PS) city hall bid in Porto.
The institution’s president, António Cunha, argued that “there are currently no incompatibilities between his current functions and the new political framework he’s assuming.”
Jorge Sobrado, responsible for Culture in a possible socialist executive in Porto’s city hall, stated that he placed his regional entity position “at the president António Cunha’s disposal.”
Aggressions between candidacies in Porto
On June 13, independent candidate for Porto’s city hall, Filipe Araújo, filed a police complaint after allegedly being assaulted by Vasco Ribeiro, then responsible for communication in the PSD/CDS-PP/IL candidacy, during Primavera Sound festival concerts.
Vasco Ribeiro, also Rui Moreira’s (outgoing municipal president) chief of staff, said there were insults and shoves exchanged, and he resigned from the campaign led by ex-Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Pedro Duarte.
The head of the coalition list accepted the campaign director’s resignation, labeling the behavior indefensible.
Government accused of using Council of Ministers for propaganda in Porto
In the previous legislature, in April, the PSD/CDS-PP Government was accused of using state interests for party propaganda by holding a Council of Ministers in Mercado do Bolhão, Porto.
The national executive’s meeting coincided with former Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pedro Duarte’s announcement of his candidacy for the municipality in a JN opinion article, marking then attendance at the market for the Council of Ministers.
The BE in Porto considered it a “scandalous political publicity act, national and local,” and a “blatant provocation” by the PSD. The PS accused the former Government of “instrumentalizing the State to serve” party interests and “blurring lines between what is private, public, and party-political,” noting the executive was “campaigning for the PSD.”
Notícias ao Minuto com Lusa | 20:22 – 02/04/2025
