On 20 October 2005, in a public statement at the Centro Cultural de Belém, Cavaco Silva presented himself officially as candidate for president. The polls indicated Cavaco Silva was the favourite.
Against Jerónimo de Sousa, Mário Soares, Francisco Louçã, Garcia Pereira and Manuel Alegre, he won the election on the first round (50% of the votes), and, for the first time in Portuguese democracy, the people elected a centre–right president.
On 9 March 2006, Cavaco takes office as the 18th President of the Portuguese Republic.