Portugal: Socialist Antonio José Seguro elected president, beating far right

With 95 percent of votes counted, 63-year-old Antonio Jose Seguro is on 66 percent.

Former Socialist Party leader António José Seguro defeated far-right leader André Ventura to become the country’s next head of state.

Center-left candidate António José Seguro was elected Portugal’s next president on Sunday, defeating his far-right opponent by a two-to-one margin in a vote held as storms and floods wreaked havoc across the country.

With 99 percent of the vote counted, the national electoral commission reported Seguro was backed by 67 percent of electors. André Ventura, who heads the ultranationalist Chega party, secured 33 percent of the ballots cast in the runoff round of voting in the presidential election.

An emotional Seguro praised his fellow citizens as “the best in world” for defying the extreme conditions to fulfill their civic duties and cast their vote.

With 95 percent of votes counted, 63-year-old Seguro has garnered 66 percent. Ventura trailed at 34 percent, still likely to secure a much stronger result than the 22.8 percent his anti-immigration Chega party achieved in last year’s general election. Ballots in large cities such as Lisbon and Porto are counted towards the end.