The House of Representatives of Puerto Rico is the lower house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the bicameral territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The House, together with the Senate, control the legislative branch of the government of Puerto Rico.
José F. Aponte Hernández is an accountant and former Speaker of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico. He was born in San Juan and obtained a bachelor's degree in Accounting from the University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras in 1980.
The political party strength in Puerto Rico has been held by different political parties in the history of Puerto Rico. Today, that strength is primarily held by two parties, namely:
Carmen Yulín Cruz Soto is a Puerto Rican politician who served as mayor of the city of San Juan, Puerto Rico from 2013 to 2020. From 2009 through 2013, Cruz served in the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico.
Brenda López de Arrarás is a Puerto Rican politician. She was a member of the Puerto Rico Chamber of Representatives from 2009 until 2021, and is affiliated to the Popular Democratic Party (PPD) and served as the party's vice president. She was the first woman, who reached that position, unanimously elected.
Luis Raúl Torres Cruz is a Puerto Rican independent politician formerly affiliated with the Popular Democratic Party (PPD). He is a member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives since 2000, representing the 2nd District. He served as Minority Leader for the PDP in the House of Representatives from 2012 to 2013, following the resignation of Héctor Ferrer.
The 29th House of Representatives of Puerto Rico is the lower house of the 17th Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico and will meet from January 14, 2013, to January 8, 2017. All members were elected in the General Elections of 2012. The House has a majority of members from the Popular Democratic Party (PPD).
The President of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico —commonly called the Speaker of the House — is the highest-ranking officer and the presiding officer of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico. The Speaker has voting powers as it is elected amongst the own members of the House as established by Article III of the Constitution of Puerto Rico. The Constitution, however, does not establish its functions and since the House is the only body authorized by the Constitution to regulate its own internal affairs, the functions of the Speaker vary from session to session—save being called "Speaker" as the Constitution establishes. The Speaker is typically elected during the House inaugural session.
The free association movement in Puerto Rico refers to initiatives throughout the history of Puerto Rico aimed at changing the current political status of Puerto Rico to that of a sovereign freely associated state. Locally, the term soberanista refers to someone that seeks to redefine the relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States to that of a compact with full sovereignty. The term is mostly used in reference to those that support a compact of free association or a variation of this formula, commonly known as Estado Libre Asociado (ELA) Soberano, between Puerto Rico and the United States. Members of the independence movement that are willing to pursue alliances with this ideology are occasionally referred to as such, but are mostly known as independentistas. Consequently, soberanismo then became the local name for the free association movement.
Rafael "Tatito" Hernández Montañez is a Puerto Rican politician affiliated with the Popular Democratic Party (PPD). He is also a Democrat. He has been a member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives since 2009, representing District 11, which includes the town of Dorado and parts of the towns of Vega Alta and Vega Baja. In the 2020 elections he was re-elected and chosen as speaker of the house in 2021.
Lydia Méndez Silva is a Puerto Rican politician affiliated with the Popular Democratic Party (PPD). She has been a member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives since 1997 representing District 21.
Luis "Rolan" Maldonado Rodríguez is a Puerto Rican politician and the former mayor of Ciales. Maldonado is affiliated with the New Progressive Party (PNP) and served as mayor from 2005 to 2013 and from 2016 to 2020.
Manuel Antonio Natal Albelo is a former member of the 29th House of Representatives of Puerto Rico. Natal is currently affiliated with the Citizen's Victory Movement party after being previously affiliated with the Popular Democratic Party and a legal advisor for Charlie Hernández, another member of the House, before becoming a legislator. He was a member of the free association movement, colloquially known as soberanistas. Elected at the age of 27, Natal is one of the youngest legislators in the history of Puerto Rico and was the youngest legislator to serve at the time of his election. He was the Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana party's nominee in the 2020 San Juan mayoral election, which he lost to senator Miguel Romero of the New Progressive Party.
The 30th House of Representatives of Puerto Rico is the lower house of the 18th Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico and will meet from January 2, 2017, to January 1, 2021. All members were elected in the General Elections of 2016. The House has a majority of members from the New Progressive Party (PNP).
During the first two decades of the 21st Century, the concept of a sovereign form of association has experienced its largest growth since it was first proposed. The 2000s marked the first time that an incumbent governor ran on a platform advocating sovereignty, when Aníbal Acevedo Vilá did so for the Popular Democratic Party (PPD). The term soberanista was popularized as a consequence, and the ideological breach within the party widened as the conservative wing backed the territorial Commonwealth. During the 2010s, free association recorded its best performance at the polls, finishing as runner-up of the 2012 status referendum. This decade also marked the first time that another party presented supporters of free association in the ballot, with the participation of the Movimiento Unión Soberanista (MUS).
Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana is a Puerto Rican political party founded in 2019. It ran in the 2020 general elections on an anti-colonial platform, proposing a constitutional assembly to determine a final decision regarding the relationship between the United States and Puerto Rico.
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 27th Senate of Puerto Rico is the upper house of the 19th Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico. Its counterpart in the lower house is the 31st House of Representatives of Puerto Rico.
The 2020 Puerto Rico House of Representative election will be held on November 5, 2024, to elect the members of the 32st House of Representatives of Puerto Rico, concurrently with the election of the governor, the Resident Commissioner, the Senate, and the mayors of the 78 municipalities. The winners were elected to a four-year term from January 3, 2024, to January 3, 2029.
