The president of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), Luís Montenegro, will lead the party’s list for the Aveiro electoral district in the early legislative elections scheduled for May 18. The list, released on Wednesday, also features eleven ministers.
Economy Minister Pedro Reis will head the list for Castelo Branco, while Justice Minister Rita Júdice will lead the Coimbra list.
Finance Minister Joaquim Miranda Sarmento will be the top candidate for Lisbon, and the Minister for the Presidency, António Leitão Amaro, will run for Viseu.
Foreign Affairs Minister Paulo Rangel will lead the Porto list, and Ana Paula Martins, the current Health Minister, will top the Vila Real list.
Agriculture Minister José Manuel Fernandes will run for the Europe constituency, and Environment Minister Maria Graça Carvalho will be number one for Faro.
The Youth Minister, Margarida Balseiro Lopes, will lead the list for Leiria, and Territorial Cohesion Minister Manuel Castro Almeida will head the list for Portalegre. Education Minister Fernando Alexandre will be the top candidate for Santarém.
Additionally, the President of the Assembly of the Republic, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco, will lead the PSD list for Viana do Castelo, as he did in the 2024 legislative elections.
PSD Secretary-General and parliamentary leader Hugo Soares will again run for Braga.
After stepping down from his role as Secretary of State for Local Administration and Territorial Planning amid controversy, Hernâni Dias returns as the leading candidate for Bragança.
Current Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, Miguel Pinto Luz, who was previously number one for Faro, is absent from the list of lead candidates announced by the PSD.
Gonçalo Valente in Beja, José Cesário for the constituency outside Europe, Dulcineia Moura for Guarda, and Teresa Morais for Setúbal will also remain as lead candidates.
Francisco Figueira will be the lead candidate for Évora, replacing Sónia Ramos, who is set to run for municipal office in Estremoz.
These names were approved during Wednesday’s meeting of the PSD National Political Commission and will be put to a vote along with other parliamentary candidates for the May 18 early legislative elections at the party’s National Council, scheduled for 9:00 pm at a hotel in Lisbon.
It should be noted that the lead candidates for the Azores and Madeira are not included in the list, as they are approved by their respective district political commissions.
Compared to 2024, of the 20 announced districts, the PSD is repeating nine lead candidates in the same districts: Beja, Braga, Bragança, Coimbra, Guarda, Setúbal, Viana do Castelo, Viseu, and Outside Europe.
For Prime Minister and PSD leader Luís Montenegro, he remains the leading candidate but will switch from Lisbon to his home district of Aveiro, where he served as a deputy for 16 years.
Concerning 2024, the PSD indicates an increase in female lead candidates, with six women now heading lists, compared to five two years ago: Teresa Morais, Rita Júdice, Dulcineia Moura, Margarida Balseiro Lopes, Maria da Graça Carvalho, and Ana Paula Martins.
[News updated at 19:57]
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