European social democratic parties have been losing ground in the past 15 years. In stark contrast, the Portuguese Socialist Party (PS) has seen its support base increase in post-bailout elections. After successfully leading the first ever left-wing contract parliamentarism government supported by the radical left parties in 2015 (the geringonça), the PS regained its pivotal role in the Portuguese party system, winning more votes and seats in the 2019. Which individual-level factors help explain PS’s electoral performance in 2019? Was the PS rewarded by the electorate for its rapprochement to the left? Was it able to attract supporters from the other geringonça parties? These are some of the key questions that this study investigates, drawing on an original two-wave panel online survey conducted by the MAPLE project before and after the 2019 elections. We find the PS’s electoral success is explained by its ability to capitalize on highs levels of satisfaction with the geringonça government, that it managed to be congruent with its electorate, and to attract votes from low income voters and its geringonça patterns. This paper offers contributions to the wider literature on the electoral fortunes of social democratic parties by shading light on a deviant case study.

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