The election was called by the President of the Republic, Aníbal Cavaco Silva after consulting with all the parties represented in the Azorean Legislative Assembly.

[5] In his place, the PS nominated Vasco Cordeiro to represent their party during several months of pre-campaigning against their rivals the Social Democrats (PSD), under the stewardship of then incumbent mayor of Ponta Delgada, Berta Cabral.

[5][6] The election occurred as a culmination of a years round of campaigning that started with the nomination of Vasco Cordeiro to replace the outgoing Carlos Cesar as leader of the party.

Meanwhile, Berta Cabral continued to function as the mayor (Portuguese: Presidente) of Ponta Delgada until the end of July 2012, when she renounced her position in favour of her Vice-Presidente.

[12] online Citing the lack of agreement between party representatives, the public broadcaster elaborated that the 90-minute two-debate model proposed (which would have two debates, one for parties with assembly representation and another with the remainder of the candidates) resulted in a formal complaint to the Commissão Nacional de Eleições (National Commission for Elections) by representatives from the PDA and MRPP.

[12] After the defeat of the PSD in the 2008 regional election, then party leader Carlos Costa Neves resigned and a leadership ballot was called for 17 December 2008.

Among the requirements of this understanding, the loan was dependent on: the guarantee that the Azores followed the objectives of the Programa de Ajustamento Econónomico e Financeiro (Program for Economic and Financial Adjustment); stabilized public finances; refrain from aggravating public finances (directly or indirectly) through the remuneration of public service employees, the reduction of public servants inline with the objectives of the PAEF; a promise not to create new public-private partnerships that resulted in new financial burdens; an analysis of existing public-partnerships (within three months from the memorandum's signing) as a precondition for funding; regular monthly bulletins on the state of Regional finances, remitted to the Direção-Geral do Orçamento (Directorate-General for the Budget); full cooperation with the Inspecção-Geral de Finanças (General Inspection for Finances); among other details.

[22] Many of the parties protested that agreement was equivalent to transferring the control of the Azores to the Ministry of Finances, requesting a debate on the issue in the Regional Assembly.

[23][24] Berta Cabral, leader of the PSD Açores, although aligned with the national government, cited her willingness to alter the terms of the memorandum if her party was elected.

[25][26] This stance was criticized by both the CDS-PP and PS leaders the next day, who cited the legality of the document and the desperation on the part of the PSD (stating that the understanding did not demand anything more than what was already required by Regional Finance Laws), respectively.

[30] On 11 September 2012, three of the smaller parties in the regional elections signed a protocol to create a parliamentary coalition around the Plataforma de Cidadnia, in order to galvanize public outrage and disinterest in the mainline candidates.

[38] The Plataforma, which included the institutional support of the PPM and PND, would have political autonomy in any legislature it was a part, following strictly the electoral program established by its constituents (who were petitioned to register online).

[48] In her concession speech on the night of the PS victory, Berta Cabral assumed personal responsibility for her party's loss, and promised to maintain her position in the assembly, while failing to clarify her intentions to vacate the leadership of the PSD Açores.

[48] Speaking following the victory of the PS, Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho recognized that the national context, and in particular the austerity measures had interfered in the results (even as he praised the work by the regional deputies and parties).