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Portugal chooses between a moderate and a populist in runoff presidential election
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Presidential candidate Antonio Jose Seguro, of the center-left Socialist Party, waves to the crowd during a campaign rally ahead of the Feb. 8 presidential election in Lisbon, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. - photo by AP Photo/Ana Brigida
LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Center-left Socialist candidate António José Seguro is heavily favored to defeat hard-right populist André Ventura in Portugal’s runoff presidential election Sunday in a vote that will test the depth of support for Ventura's brash style of politics. Recent opinion polls say Seguro will collect twice as many votes as Ventura in the head-to-head between the two top candidates in last month’s first round of voting, when none of the runners captured the more than 50% of the vote required for victory. But making it through to the runoff is already a milestone for Ventura and his Chega (Enough) party, which has quickly grown into a significant force in Portuguese politics during a wider European shift to the right.