Portugal Picks Socialist Over Populist, Exit Polls Show

Center-left Socialist candidate António José Seguro has recorded a thumping victory over hard-right populist André Ventura in Portugal's runoff presidential election, exit polls indicated Sunday. Polls by the country's three main broadcasters suggested the moderate Seguro won a five-year term with around 70% of the votes, compared with about 30% for Ventura, the AP reports. The balloting was an opportunity to test the depth of support for Ventura's brash style, which has struck a chord with voters and helped make his Chega (Enough) party the second-biggest in the Portuguese parliament, as well as gauge the public appetite for Europe's increasing shift to the right.

Seguro, a longstanding Socialist politician, positioned himself as a moderate candidate who will cooperate with Portugal's center-right minority government, repudiating Ventura's anti-establishment and anti-immigrant tirades. During the campaign, Ventura put up billboards across the country saying, "This isn't Bangladesh" and "Immigrants shouldn't be allowed to live on welfare." Seguro won the backing of other mainstream politicians on the left and right who want to halt the rising populist tide. In Portugal, the president is largely a figurehead.