According to the latest municipal election results, 171 elected mayors will now begin their first term in office, with 90 mayors elected for a second term, and 47 entering their third and final allowable term, as per the law limiting consecutive terms to three.
Among those elected for a first term, 78 are from the PSD or PSD-led coalitions, 62 are socialists, 11 are from the CDU, another 11 are from independent movements, three are from Chega, three from CDS-PP, one from JPP, and another from Nós, Cidadãos! (NC).
Newly elected mayors include those from Aveiro (PSD/CDS-PP/PPM), Braga (PSD/CDS-PP/PPM), Beja (PSD/CDS-PP), Porto (PSD/IL/CDS-PP), Santarém (PSD/CDS-PP), and Funchal (PSD/CDS-PP).
The PS has elected new mayors in Coimbra (PS/L/PAN), Bragança, Évora, Faro, and Vila Real.
Socialist João Azevedo and now-independent Maria das Dores Meira have also been elected for a new local government cycle in Viseu and Setúbal, respectively. Azevedo previously served as the PS mayor in Mangualde from 2009 to 2019, while Meira led in Setúbal under the CDU from 2006 to 2021.
Of the 171 first-term mayors, 35 had already been serving as mayors by replacing those who resigned after their election in 2021.
Ninety mayors were elected for a second term, with 42 from the PS, 39 from the PSD, six from independent citizen groups, two from CDS-PP, and one supported by Nós, Cidadãos!
Lisbon’s mayor (PSD/CDS-PP/IL), Portalegre, and Ponta Delgada mayors (both PSD) are among those in their second term.
Also in their second term are PS mayors from Castelo Branco, Leiria, and Viana do Castelo, along with the coalition NC/PPM representative in Guarda.
There are 47 mayors serving their third and final consecutive term in the same municipality.
Among them, 19 are from the PSD, 24 from the PS, two from independent groups, one from CDS-PP, and one from the CDU.
In the municipal elections held on October 12, the PSD won in 136 municipalities, compared to the PS’s 128, reversing the 2021 results when the socialists secured 149 municipalities and the social democrats 114.
The PSD also secured the presidency of the nation’s five largest municipalities, including Lisbon and Porto.
These results reflect a shift in national municipal leadership, with the PSD overtaking the PS in the number of municipalities governed, allowing the social democrats to preside over the Associação Nacional de Municípios Portugueses (ANMP).
