Portugal's right-wing opposition party Chega held internal elections across 12 district and regional structures, with results revealing significant leadership upheavals that underscore persistent fractures within the organization. The voting concluded today, producing several surprises that could reshape the party's internal dynamics as it navigates its role as the country's main opposition force.
Why This Matters
• Leadership shake-up: Incumbent district chiefs lost in Porto, Setúbal, and Faro—signs of internal dissent despite André Ventura's unchallenged national control.
• 70,000+ members: Chega has grown rapidly since 2019, but these elections expose the friction between centralized authority and grassroots autonomy.
• Next round: Seven additional district elections scheduled for July 5, with the Azores regional structures still unscheduled.
Major Upsets in Porto, Faro, and Setúbal
The most dramatic outcome emerged in Porto, where challenger Luís Couraceiro defeated sitting deputy and district president Rui Afonso in a four-way contest. Afonso, part of Chega's parliamentary group, had faced competition not only from Couraceiro but also from Carlos Dias and José Luís Vasconcelos, the current president of the District Assembly. The result marks a rare rebuke of a sitting lawmaker within the party's internal hierarchy.
In the southern Algarve district of Faro, local councilor José Paulo Sousa captured 53.8% of the vote, unseating deputy João Graça, who had sought re-election. The defeat signals discontent with parliamentary representation at the local level, a recurring theme in several contested districts.
Setúbal witnessed another incumbent fall, as Nuno Valente—a councilor in Montijo and director of the party's in-house publication Folha Nacional—toppled deputy Nuno Gabriel. The race had been marked by public accusations between the two candidates and the departure of several municipal coordinators in Almada, Sesimbra, and Seixal, highlighting the volatility of Chega's local operations.
Santarém and Lisboa: Competitive Races with Mixed Results
In Santarém, deputy José Dotti secured re-election with 39.13% of the vote in a crowded field of four candidates, including Sónia Pereira, Manuela Estevão, and José Luís Albuquerque. The relatively modest plurality underscores the divided loyalties within one of the party's most active districts.
Lisboa's district leadership went to deputy Patrícia Almeida, who won 54.7% of the vote against former municipal candidate Pedro Tomé Aleixo. Almeida, previously vice-president of the district structure, steps up after deputy Pedro Pessanha opted not to seek another term. Her victory represents a smoother transition than in many other contested districts.
Uncontested Races and Regional Dynamics
Five structures saw single-candidate slates, suggesting either consensus or a lack of internal competition. Deputy João Ribeiro retained his post in Castelo Branco, while Manuela Tender was re-elected in Vila Real and Eduardo Teixeira in Viana do Castelo. In the Guarda, Henrique Janela—who ran unsuccessfully for parliament in the last legislative elections—took the leadership unopposed.
Portalegre, which had been leaderless since former president Henrique de Freitas departed in April 2025, saw commercial manager Pedro Lancha prevail over businessman Luís Homem Gonçalves.
In Madeira, the regional structure will be led by Hugo Nunes, who received backing from regional deputy Francisco Gomes (listed as number two on the slate). Outgoing leader Miguel Castro did not seek re-election, and Nunes faced no opposition.
The Aveiro district remained contested, with incumbent Pedro Alves facing challenger Manuel Almeida, though official results have not yet been disclosed.
What This Means for Chega's Internal Stability
The internal elections expose a persistent tension within Chega: centralized control at the national level versus decentralized ambition in the districts. André Ventura, who is preparing for re-election at the party's National Congress in May 2026, remains the uncontested figurehead—53% of Portuguese voters identified him as the country's main opposition leader in an April 2026 Aximage poll. Yet these district-level contests reveal simmering discontent, particularly among incumbent lawmakers who lost their local power bases.
Ventura has imposed strict internal discipline to contain dissent. A directive issued last week, first reported by SIC, prohibits deputies, officials, and party staff who are not themselves candidates from publicly endorsing or campaigning for any internal slate. Violators face disciplinary proceedings. The measure, reminiscent of the controversial "lei da rolha" (gag law) that Ventura introduced in December 2020, reflects the party's ongoing struggle with internal dissent. That earlier directive led to the suspension of 82 members by mid-2022 before the Constitutional Court dissolved Chega's ethics committee in November of that year, forcing the reinstatement of expelled militants.
At the party's National Council on May 21, when these elections were scheduled, Ventura appealed for "unity and responsibility," urging leaders to avoid creating "disturbance, disharmony, and disruption." He framed the call as a patriotic duty: "I am asking you what a political leader must ask when he puts his country first." The rhetoric underscores the high stakes Ventura attaches to internal cohesion, even as local rivalries intensify.
Historical Context: A Party Built on Loyalty Tests
Since its founding in 2019, Chega has weathered repeated internal fractures. Founding members including Lucinda Ribeiro (militant number 6), Patrícia Sousa Uva, and Nuno Afonso (militant number 2) all departed, citing authoritarian tendencies and a "cult of personality" around Ventura. Afonso, a former vice-president and Ventura's chief of staff, left in January 2023, describing the party as a "unipersonal, authoritarian, and anti-democratic project."
The party's statutes have been rejected multiple times by the Constitutional Court due to excessive power concentration in the leader's hands. Since the 2021 municipal elections, six of 19 elected Chega councilors have left the party to sit as independents, raising questions about candidate vetting and ideological coherence.
Next Steps: July 5 Elections and Beyond
The second round of district elections on July 5 will cover Braga, Bragança, Viseu, Coimbra, Leiria, Évora, and Beja. The Azores regional structures have not yet scheduled their votes, according to party officials. Collectively, these contests will determine the composition of Chega's territorial leadership as it heads into the 2027 State Budget negotiations and positions itself as the primary opposition to the minority government.
Chega's parliamentary group currently counts 48 deputies, making it the second-largest force in the Assembly of the Republic. Ventura has warned that any government alignment with the Socialist Party on a controversial nationality bill could jeopardize Chega's budget support in 2027, a threat that underscores the party's leverage—and the stakes of maintaining internal discipline.
For now, the district elections reveal a party in flux: growing in membership and national influence, yet grappling with the centrifugal forces of local ambition and centralized control. Whether Ventura's call for unity will resonate beyond the rhetoric remains an open question as the July 5 contests approach.
