The politics of Puerto Rico take place in the framework of a democratic republic form of government that is under the jurisdiction and sovereignty of the United States Congress as an organized unincorporated territory. Since the 1898 invasion of Puerto Rico by the United States during the Spanish–American War, politics in Puerto Rico have been significantly shaped by its status as territory of the United States. The nature of Puerto Rico's political relationship with the United States is the subject of ongoing debate in Puerto Rico, in the United States, the United Nations and the international community, with all major political parties in the archipelago calling it a colonial relationship.
Don Luis Alberto Ferré Aguayo was a Puerto Rican engineer, industrialist, politician, philanthropist, and a patron of the arts. He was the governor of Puerto Rico from 1969 to 1973. He was the founder of the New Progressive Party, which advocates for Puerto Rico to become a state of the United States of America. He is a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
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.
José Celso Barbosa Alcala was a Puerto Rican physician, sociologist and political leader. Known as the father of the statehood movement in Puerto Rico, Barbosa was the first Puerto Rican, and one of the first persons of African descent to earn a medical degree in the United States.
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.
Dr. Hernán Padilla Ramírez is a retired physician and former two-term Mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Orlando Parga Figueroa is a Puerto Rican politician and former member of the Senate of Puerto Rico. He served as President pro tempore of the Senate from 2005 to 2009.
Partido Republicano Puertorriqueño was a political party founded in Puerto Rico on July 4, 1899. The party dissolved in 1924 when it split into two factions, both factions forming alliances with other local parties. It was led by Dr. José Celso Barbosa.
The Republican Union was a pro-statehood political party in Puerto Rico, that also contemplated total autonomy in the case that U.S. statehood was denied. Its president was Rafael Martínez Nadal. It existed from 1932 to 1940. Together with the Socialist Party, it was part of an electoral alliance known as Coalition.
Miguel Angel García Méndez was a Puerto Rican politician, businessman and lawyer. García Méndez served as the 11th Speaker of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico and later served in the Puerto Rico Senate. He helped found the Republican Statehood Party.
Estadistas Unidos was a non-partisan organization created by Luis A. Ferré in January, 1967 after the Statehood Republican Party (SRP), of which he was its long-time gubernatorial candidate, met at the San Jerónimo Hilton hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico and refused to defend the option of becoming a US state in the upcoming July 27 political status plebiscite convened by the pro-status quo Popular Democratic Party (PDP)-dominated Legislature.
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:
The Popular Democratic Party is a political party in Puerto Rico that advocates to continue as a Commonwealth of the United States with self-governance. The party was founded in 1938 by dissidents from the Puerto Rican Liberal Party and the Unionist Party and originally promoted policies on the center-left. In recent years, however, its leaders have described the party as centrist.
Leopoldo Figueroa a.k.a. "The deacon of the Puerto Rican Legislature", was a Puerto Rican politician, journalist, medical doctor and lawyer. Figueroa, who began his political career as an advocate of Puerto Rican Independence, was the co-founder of the "Independence Association", one of three political organizations which merged to form the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party. Figueroa, had changed political ideals and in 1948, was a member of the Partido Estadista Puertorriqueño. That year, he was the only member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives who did not belong to the Partido Popular Democrático (PPD), and the only Representative to oppose the PPD's approval of what became known as the Ley de la Mordaza, which violated the civil rights of those who favored Puerto Rican Independence. On December 22, 2006, the Puerto Rican Legislature approved a law declaring every September 21, Leopoldo Figueroa Carreras Day.
The Republican Party of Puerto Rico is the local affiliate of the national United States Republican Party in Puerto Rico. The affiliation started in 1903. The party does not participate in the November elections mandated by the Constitution of Puerto Rico for local registered political parties because it is not a registered party in Puerto Rico for local electoral purposes. Instead, the party holds its own elections to select the Puerto Rico delegates to the Republican National Convention and holds presidential primaries on the last Sunday of February.
Partido Republicano Puro, also known as Partido Constitucional Histórico, was a political party that existed in Puerto Rico from 1924 to 1932. The party's main goal was the annexation of Puerto Rico into the American Union as a state. It resulted from a split of Partido Republicano de Puerto Rico on May 4, 1924. Its president was Rafael Martínez Nadal. The party dissolved in 1932 when it joined members of the conservative end of the Alianza Puertorriqueña to form Partido Unión Republicana.
Unificación Puertorriqueña Tripartita was political party in Puerto Rico founded on 14 July 1940. It resulted from the merger of three political parties: Partido Liberal Puertorriqueño, Partido Unión Republicana Progresista and Partido Laborista Puro. It supported statehood for Puerto Rico as its major tenet.
Partido Unión Republicana Progresista was a political party in Puerto Rico that ran in the 1944 elections. Founded in 1940, it resulted from Partido Unión Republicana. Its president was Celestino Iriarte. It ceased to exists in 1948 when it changed its name to Partido Estadista Puertorriqueño.
Partido Estadista Puertorriqueño [1948 - 1952] was a political party in Puerto Rico that existed from 1948 to 1952. The party resulted when Partido Unión Republicana Progresista ceased to exist in 1948, renaming itself as "Partido Estadista Puertorriqueño." Its president was Celestino Iriarte. Partido Estadista Puertorriqueño dissolved in 1952 when, once again, it changed names "to return to its roots" and renamed itself as Partido Estadista Republicano, the party founded by Jose Celso Barbosa in 1899.
