# 2020 Portuguese Social Democratic Party leadership election

The 2020 Portuguese Social Democratic Party leadership election was held on 11 and 18 January 2020. As no candidate received a majority of all valid votes on the first round, held on 11 January 2020, a second round took place one week later, 18 January, between the two candidates with the highest number of votes in the first round. This was the first time that a Social Democratic Party leadership election was contested on a second ballot. For both ballots, more than 40,000 party members, just 36 percent out of almost 110,000 active members, were registered to vote.
In the first round of the election, incumbent party leader Rui Rio finished in first place with a relative majority of 49.0% of all valid votes cast, followed by contesters Luís Montenegro, who received 41.4% of the vote, and Miguel Pinto Luz, who won 9.6% of the vote. As no candidate managed to reach the required percentage of the vote to win outright in the first round, a run-off election took place between the two candidates with the most votes in the first round: Rio and Montenegro. Rui Rio won the second round with 53.2% of the vote and was thus re-elected President of the party and stayed on as Leader of the Opposition.

## Candidates

| Name | Born | Experience | Announcement date |
| Luís Montenegro | 16 February 1973 (age 46) Porto | Leader of the Social Democratic Parliamentary Caucus (2011–2017) Member of Parliament for Aveiro (2002–2017) | 9 October 2019 |
| Miguel Pinto Luz | 8 February 1977 (age 42) Lisbon | Deputy Mayor of Cascais (2017–2024) Secretary of State for Infrastructure, Transportation, and Communications (2015) | 18 October 2019 |
| Rui Rio | 6 August 1957 (age 62) Porto | President of the Social Democratic Party (2018–2022) Leader of the Opposition (2018–2022) Member of Parliament for Porto (2019–2022) Mayor of Porto (2001–2013) Member of Parliament for Porto (1991–2002) | 21 October 2019 |

### Withdrawn candidates

* Miguel Morgado, Member of Parliament for Porto (2015–2019)
* Jorge Moreira da Silva, Minister of the Environment, Territorial Planning and Energy (2013–2015)

## Opinion polls
### All voters

| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | | | | Other /None | Lead |
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | Rui Rio | Luís Montenegro | Miguel Pinto Luz | Other /None | Lead |
| Intercampus | 20–26 Nov 2019 | 604 | 40.6 | 14.2 | 3.3 | 41.9 | 26.4 |

## Results

Summary of the January 2020 PSD leadership election results :
| Candidate | Candidate | 1st Round 11 January 2020 | 1st Round 11 January 2020 | 2nd Round 18 January 2020 | 2nd Round 18 January 2020 |
| Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % | Votes | % |
| | Rui Rio | 15,546 | 49.02 | 17,157 | 53.21 |
| | Luís Montenegro | 13,136 | 41.42 | 15,086 | 46.79 |
| | Miguel Pinto Luz | 3,030 | 9.55 | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Total | Total | 31,712 | | 32,243 | |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 31,712 | 98.85 | 32,243 | 98.96 |
| Invalid and blank ballots | Invalid and blank ballots | 369 | 1.15 | 339 | 1.04 |
| Votes cast / turnout | Votes cast / turnout | 32,081 | 79.01 | 32,582 | 80.20 |
| Registered voters | Registered voters | 40,604 | | 40,628 | |
| Sources: 1st Round results, 2nd Round results ||||||
Vote share 1st Round
Rui Rio
49.02%
Luís Montenegro
41.42%
Miguel Pinto Luz
9.55% :
Vote share 2nd Round
Rui Rio
53.21%
Luís Montenegro
46.79% :