| Elections in Puerto Rico |
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A special election to elect shadow senators and shadow representatives from Puerto Rico was held on May 16, 2021. Voters chose two special delegates to the United States Senate and four special delegates to the United States House of Representatives. Their work is to demand that the US Congress respect and enforce the results of the 2020 status referendum, and admit Puerto Rico as the 51st state of the Union. [1] [2]
In the 2020 general election, the 6th political status referendum was held, where the option to pursue statehood won with 52.52%. [3] After that, on February 15, 2021, the Commission on Elections (CEE) certified that there would be a non-partisan special election to elect the delegates. [4] The CEE did not have any funds to pay for the event, [5] and the financial oversight board denied their request for 6.6 million USD, so governor Pedro Pierluisi used money from the general budget of the island to fund it, action which the Popular Democratic Party (PPD) condemned. [6]
In the weeks leading up to the election, various politicians began write-in campaigns. Surprisingly, former governor Ricardo Rosselló, who resigned in 2019 because of Telegramgate, announced he would run for the House of Representative delegation. [7] In addition to Rosselló, former San Juan Mayor Jorge Santini [8] and former at-large senator Miriam Ramírez de Ferrer [9] also announced campaigns for House of Representatives delegate and Senate delegate respectively.
Four candidates qualified for the senatorial ballot and six for the House delegation ballot. [10] Voters were allowed to mark up to two choices for senator and up to four choices for member of Congress.
In the preliminary results from election night, Melinda Romero and Zoraida Buxó won the Senate race, [11] and Elizabeth Torres, Roberto Lefranc Fortuño, Mayita Meléndez and Adriel Vélez won the House of Representatives race. [12]
Some 73,745 write-in votes were cast in the House of Representatives election, [12] with former governor Ricardo Rosselló reportedly earning enough write-in votes to win a seat in the delegation. [13] However, challengers to Rosselló have questioned his eligibility claiming he lives in Virginia (not Puerto Rico or Washington, D.C., as required by the law establishing the shadow delegation) and that he is registered to vote there, not in Puerto Rico. [14] Despite this, Puerto Rico election authorities indicated they were not empowered to disqualify him as a write-in candidate. [15] On June 1, 2021, The Puerto Rico State Commission on Elections certified that Rosselló received 53,823 write-in votes, earning a seat in the delegation over Vélez. [16]
This election had the lowest recorded voter turnout for a Puerto Rican election ever (3.92%), breaking the record previously held by the 2017 Puerto Rican status referendum (23.23%).
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Progressive | Melinda Romero Donnelly | 57,916 | 34.26 | |
| Republican | Zoraida Buxó | 46,222 | 27.35 | |
| New Progressive | Victor Pérez Delegado | 27,900 | 16.51 | |
| New Progressive | Roberto López | 19,565 | 11.57 | |
| Write-in | 17,438 | 10.31 | ||
| Total votes | 92,448 | 100.00 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | Elizabeth Torres Rodriguez | 63,520 | 19.79 | |
| New Progressive | Ricardo Rosselló (write-in) | 53,823 | 16.77 | |
| New Progressive | Roberto Lefranc Fortuño | 47,853 | 14.91 | |
| New Progressive | María Meléndez | 42,263 | 13.17 | |
| New Progressive | Adriel Vélez | 31,591 | 9.84 | |
| New Progressive | Jorge Iván Rodríguez | 31,213 | 9.72 | |
| New Progressive | Ricardo Marrero | 30,783 | 9.59 | |
| Write-in | 19,928 | 6.21 | ||
| Total votes | 92,448 | 100.00 | ||
In September 2021, the official delegation created the extended congressional delegation for Puerto Rico as part of the initiatives they are putting in place to create a big grassroots movement for Puerto Rico's statehood. [17] This delegation is not elected and its members take part on a pro-bono basis since the delegation is intended for social activists who embrace the Puerto Rican cause. This initiative has been fully supported by former governor Ricardo Rossello, former mayor Maria "Mayita" Melendez and delegates Melinda Romero and Lefranc Fortuño. Some notable extended delegates include:
Carlos Antonio Romero Barceló was a Puerto Rican politician who served as the governor of Puerto Rico from 1977 to 1985. He was the second governor to be elected from the New Progressive Party (PNP). He also served 2 terms in Congress as the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico from 1993 to 2001.
Pedro Juan Rosselló González is a Puerto Rican physician and politician who served as the governor of Puerto Rico from 1993 to 2001. He was President of the New Progressive Party from 1991 to 1999 and 2003 to 2008, and served as Senator for the District of Arecibo from 2005 to 2008. His son, Ricardo, was also Governor of Puerto Rico from 2017 to 2019.
The New Progressive Party is a political party in Puerto Rico that advocates statehood. The PNP is one of the two major parties in Puerto Rico with significant political strength and currently holds both the seat of the governor and of the resident commissioner.
The posts of shadow United States senator and shadow United States representative are held by elected or appointed government officials from subnational polities of the United States that lack congressional vote. While these officials are not seated in either chamber of Congress, they seek recognition for their subnational polity, up to full statehood. This would enfranchise them with full voting rights on the floor of the US House and Senate, alongside existing states. As of 2021, only the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico currently have authorized shadow delegations to Congress.
General elections were held in Puerto Rico on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. After a count by the State Commission of Elections, the winner was inaugurated to a four-year term as Governor of Puerto Rico on January 2, 2005.
Luis Guillermo Fortuño Burset is a Puerto Rican politician who served as the governor of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States, from 2009 to 2013.
Thomas Rivera Schatz is a Puerto Rican politician, legal advisor, attorney, and former prosecutor, who was the fourteenth and sixteenth President of the Senate of Puerto Rico. He is affiliated with New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico and the mainland Republican Party. On July 22, 2019, Rivera Schatz announced that he will take over as acting chair of the PNP following the resignation of Ricardo Rosselló due to the Telegramgate scandal.
General elections were held in Puerto Rico on Tuesday, November 4, 2008, to elect the officials of the government that would serve for the next four years, most notably the Governor of Puerto Rico.
Jenniffer Aydin González Colón is a Puerto Rican politician who serves as the 20th Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico. González has served in leadership positions in the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico (PNP) and in the Republican Party of the United States. These positions included being the chairwoman of the Puerto Rico Republican Party, speaker and minority leader of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico, and vice-chair of the PNP. González is the youngest person to be Resident Commissioner and the first woman to hold the role.
Pedro Rafael Pierluisi Urrutia is a Puerto Rican politician and lawyer currently serving as governor of Puerto Rico since January 2, 2021. He has previously served as secretary of justice, resident commissioner, acting secretary of state, de facto governor of Puerto Rico and as private attorney for Puerto Rico's fiscal oversight board under the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act. He is a member of the New Progressive Party and the Democratic Party of the United States.
Charles Anthony Rodríguez-Colón is a New York City-born Puerto Rican politician affiliated with the New Progressive Party (NPP). He served as the eleventh president of the Senate of Puerto Rico from 1997 until 2000.
Abel Nazario Quiñones is former senator at large of the 26th Senate of Puerto Rico and was mayor of Yauco, Puerto Rico. He was first elected in 2000 representing the New Progressive Party (PNP). He was reelected in 2004, 2008 and 2012. Nazario is also the vice president of the PNP and also for the local Republican Party. He was arrested on 12 September 2018 by the FBI for illegal appropriation of federal funds.
Ricardo Antonio Rosselló Nevares is a former governor of Puerto Rico who served from 2017 until his resignation in 2019 after overwhelming protests related to the Telegramgate scandal. He is the son of former governor of Puerto Rico and pediatric surgeon Pedro Rosselló.
The 2008 New Progressive Party primaries were the primary elections by which voters of the New Progressive Party (PNP) chose its nominees for various political offices of Puerto Rico, namely the position of governor, for the 2008 general elections. Resident Commissioner Luis Fortuño was selected as the nominee at the primary elections held on March 9, 2008. He would go on to win the 2008 general election as well.
José Luis Rivera Guerra is a Puerto Rican politician affiliated with the New Progressive Party (PNP). He was a member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives representing the 17th District from 2000 to 2013. He was reelected in 2016. He resigned on July 31, 2018.
The 2003 New Progressive Party primaries were the primary elections by which voters of the New Progressive Party (PNP) chose its nominees for various political offices of Puerto Rico, namely the position of governor, for the 2004 general elections. Former Governor Pedro Rosselló was selected as the nominee at the primary elections held on November 9, 2003. He would go on to narrowly lose the 2004 general election against Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, from the Popular Democratic Party (PPD).
General elections were held in Puerto Rico on November 3, 2020, to elect the officials of the Puerto Rican government who will serve from January 2021 to January 2025, most notably the position of Governor and Resident Commissioner. In addition, there was a non-binding status referendum to ask voters if Puerto Rico should become the 51st state of the Union.
The 2024 Puerto Rico gubernatorial election will be held on November 5, 2024, to elect the governor of Puerto Rico, concurrently with the election of the Resident Commissioner, the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the mayors of the 78 municipalities. Incumbent New Progressive Party Governor Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia ran for re-election to a second term in office, but lost the PNP primary to Resident Commissioner Jenniffer Gonzalez Colon.
The 19th Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico will meet from January 2, 2021, to January 1, 2025. Members of the 31st House of Representatives of Puerto Rico were elected in the 2020 House of Representatives election, while members of the 27th Senate of Puerto Rico were elected the same day in the Senate election. The Popular Democratic Party does not have an outright majority in the Senate, but controls the chamber. While the PPD had a simple majority of representatives in the 31st House of Representatives from 2021 to 2022, this has ceased to be the case since 4 May 2022.
The 2024 United States House of Representatives election in Puerto Rico to elect the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico will be held on November 5, 2024. The election of the Resident Commissioner will be held concurrently with concurrently with the larger 2024 United States House of Representatives elections, the 2024 Puerto Rico gubernatorial election, and other U.S. federal and Puerto Rican general election races.
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