# Next Azorean regional election

The next Azorean regional election will be held on or before October 2028, to determine the composition of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores, Portugal. The election will replace all 57 members of the Azores Assembly, and the new members will then elect the President of the Autonomous Region.
President José Manuel Bolieiro, from the Social Democratic Party (PSD) leads a minority coalition government with the CDS – People's Party (CDS–PP) and the People's Monarchist Party (PPM). The parties in the coalition government have contested the previous election in an electoral coalition.

## Background
### Leadership changes and challenges
#### Socialist Party

A few weeks after the February 2024 election, Vasco Cordeiro announced his intention to not run for another term as party leader. A leadership ballot was called for 28 and 29 June 2024. Only one candidate was on the ballot, Francisco César, son of former President of the Regional Government Carlos César. As expected, Francisco César was easily elected with 93 percent of the votes:
Ballot: 28 and 29 June 2024 :
| Candidate | Candidate | % |
| | Francisco César | 93.3 |
| Blank/Invalid ballots | Blank/Invalid ballots | 6.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | |
| Source: Expresso ||||

#### Liberal Initiative

The Liberal Initiative held a leadership ballot on 1 and 2 November 2024. Nuno Barata, IL-Azores regional leader and regional parliament member decided not to run for another term as regional leader. Hugo Almeida was the sole candidate on the ballot. On 2 November 2024, Hugo Almeida was elected with 82 percent of the delegates votes:
Ballot: 1 and 2 November 2024 :
| Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Hugo Almeida | 18 | 81.8 |
| Abstentions | Abstentions | 4 | 18.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | 22 | |
| Source: ||||

## Electoral system

The Azores regional parliament elects 57 members through a proportional system in which the 9 islands elect a number of MPs proportional to the number of registered voters. MPs are allocated by using the D'Hondt method. 5 members are also elected for a Compensation constituency. Current distribution of MPs by constituency:
| Constituency | Total MPs |
| Corvo | 2 |
| Faial | 4 |
| Flores | 3 |
| Graciosa | 3 |
| Pico | 4 |
| Santa Maria | 3 |
| São Jorge | 3 |
| São Miguel | 20 |
| Terceira | 10 |
| Compensation | 5 |
| Total | 57 |

## Parties
### Current composition

The table below lists parties represented in the Legislative Assembly of the Azores before the election.
| Name | Name | Name | Ideology | Leader | 2024 result | 2024 result | Status |
| Name | Name | Name | Ideology | Leader | % | Seats | Status |
| | PPD/PSD | Social Democratic Party Partido Social Democrata | Liberal conservatism | José Manuel Bolieiro | 42.1% | 23 / 57 | Governing coalition |
| | CDS–PP | CDS – People's Party Centro Democrático Social – Partido Popular | Christian democracy | Artur Lima | 42.1% | 2 / 57 | Governing coalition |
| | PPM | People's Monarchist Party Partido Popular Monárquico | Monarchism | Paulo Estêvão | 42.1% | 1 / 57 | Governing coalition |
| | PS | Socialist Party Partido Socialista | Social democracy | Francisco César | 35.9% | 23 / 57 | Opposition |
| | CH | CHEGA! Chega! | National conservatism | José Pacheco | 9.2% | 5 / 57 | Opposition |
| | BE | Left Bloc Bloco de Esquerda | Democratic socialism | António Lima | 2.5% | 1 / 57 | Opposition |
| | IL | Liberal Initiative Iniciativa Liberal | Classical liberalism | Hugo Almeida | 2.1% | 1 / 57 | Opposition |
| | PAN | People Animals Nature Pessoas-Animais-Natureza | Animal welfare | Pedro Neves | 1.6% | 1 / 57 | Opposition |

## Opinion polls

| Polling firm/Link | Fieldwork date | Sample size | Turnout | | | | | | | | | O | Lead |
| 2024 EP election | 9 Jun 2024 | — | 24.2 | 38.4 (25) | 32.3 (22) | 8.1 (4) | 3.7 (2) | 6.1 (3) | 1.3 (0) | 1.7 (0) | 2.4 (1) | 6.0 (0) | 6.1 |
| 2024 legislative election | 10 Mar 2024 | — | 46.2 | 39.8 (26) | 29.2 (20) | 15.8 (8) | 3.4 (1) | 2.7 (1) | 1.6 (0) | 1.1 (0) | 1.7 (1) | 4.8 (0) | 10.6 |
| 2024 regional election | 4 Feb 2024 | — | 50.3 | 42.1 26 | 35.9 23 | 9.2 5 | 2.5 1 | 2.1 1 | 1.6 1 | 1.6 0 | 0.6 0 | 3.1 0 | 6.2 |