Portuguese presidential election, 1958

Portuguese presidential election, 1958

8 June 1958

Candidate Americo Thomaz Humberto Delgado Party National Union Independent Popular vote 765,081 236,057 Percentage 76.4% 23.6%

President before election Craveiro Lopes National Union Elected President Americo Thomaz National Union

Presidential elections were held in Portugal on 8 June 1958, during the authoritarian Estado Novo regime led by Prime Minister António de Oliveira Salazar.

Incumbent President Francisco Craveiro Lopes had clashed with Salazar and did not seek another term, neither as candidate of the regime or for the opposition, which deemed the incumbent president capable of winning the race. The National Union, the sole legal political party levied naval minister Américo Thomaz, a conservative. The democratic opposition backed General Humberto Delgado, who ran as an independent in an attempt to challenge the regime.

The official tally was 76.4 percent for Thomaz and about 24 percent for Delgado. The regime's secret police force, PIDE, harassed Delgado's supporters, and there were many reports of regime electoral fraud.^[1] The results nevertheless shocked the dictatorship and in 1959, the constitution was amended to transfer the responsibility to elect the president from the Portuguese people to the National Assembly. The method of universal election was later reintroduced, as democracy was restored.

Results

Portuguese Presidential Election, 1958 - First Round (8 June)
Candidates		Supporting parties	Votes	%
	Americo Thomaz	National Union	765,081	76.42
	Humberto Delgado	Independent	236,057	23.58
Total Vote (turnout %)			1,001,138	100.00
Registered Voters
Source: Fórum História

Vote share 1st Round
Americo Thomaz			76.42%
Humberto Delgado			23.58%
Blank/Invalid			0%
Abstention			0%

References