Last updated on 21st January 2026
The first round of the 2026 presidential elections left a hole in several campaign budgets delivered by candidates to the Entity for Accounts and Political Financing (ECFP).
Five candidates had expected to receive much more public subsidy money than they will actually receive because of the low poll results. Marques Mendes, Gouveia e Melo, AntĂłnio Filipe, Jorge Pinto, and Catarina Martins are left to count the costs.
According to TVI/CNN Portugal’s accounts for campaign budgets and the estimate of public subsidy, Marques Mendes has the biggest hole in the campaign budget, and he himself risks having to pay the difference if he does not receive further donations or financial support from the PSD.
The budget of the candidate supported by the Social Democrats was made on the basis that their candidate would receive at least 18% of the votes and therefore would receive a million euro public subsidy.  In the end, only 11.3% of voters chose his candidacy, which equates to a maximum subsidy of around 580 thousand euros, leaving him to pay the remaining 400,00 euros.
A source from Marques Mendes’ campaign admits that they are evaluating all the donations they received from private individuals, the actual expense of running the campaign, so that they can come up with a final figure. The candidate did not budget to receive money from the PSD, and so he may be forced to foot the bill.Â
Another loser on election night was Gouveia e Melo, but here the campaign budget already provided for a lower public subsidy than Marques Mendes.
The admiral was estimated to have 16% of the votes and receive 700 thousand euros, but ended up having 12.3%, which will entitle him to about 620 thousand euros.
A source from Gouveia e Melo’s campaign said that “both the revenue and the expenditure” initially advanced were only “estimates.”
“The forecast at the moment is that the expenditure will be below the estimated,” says the admiral’s campaign, which adds that “the difference for the subsidy will be covered by donations.”
With only 1.6% of the votes, AntĂłnio Filipe will have more complex accounts than Gouveia e Melo.
The budget of the PCP candidate provided for 300 thousand euros of public subsidy, but, as the electoral results were below 5% of the votes – the minimum threshold to receive money from the State in a presidential campaign – AntĂłnio Filipe will not receive anything.
The same fate belongs to Catarina Martins and Jorge Pinto. The candidate supported by the Left Bloc budgeted to receive 47,450 euros of public money, and the Livre candidate expected 87 thousand euros. A source from Jorge Pinto’s campaign admits the hole in the accounts, but admits that now it will be necessary to make up for the hole with donations, and it will be necessary for Livre to pay the rest.
An official source from the Assembly of the Republic, the entity responsible for making the payment of the public subsidy, said that, by law, the state subsidy for the first round campaign will cost a maximum of 4.3 million euros, “with 20% (859 thousand euros) distributed among the 5 candidates with more than 5% of the votes and 80% (3.4 million euros) distributed in proportion to the percentage of votes obtained only by the top 5 candidates.”
The Assembly of the Republic points out, however, “regardless of the calculation, the subsidy cannot exceed the value of the expenses actually incurred, deducted from the value of the fundraising.”
According to TVI/CNN Portugal’s calculations, AntĂłnio JosĂ© Seguro, for example, the most voted candidate, could receive a maximum of 1.2 million euros, and around 1 million euros for AndrĂ© Ventura.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
Source: CNN Portugal
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