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.
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.
The Puerto Rican Renewal Party — or Partido Renovación Puertorriqueña (PRP) in Spanish — was a short-lived Puerto Rican political party founded on August 28, 1983, in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The party was disbanded in 1987.
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.
Antonio Rafael Barceló y Martínez was a Puerto Rican lawyer, businessman and the patriarch of what was to become one of Puerto Rico's most prominent political families. Barceló, who in 1917 became the first President of the Senate of Puerto Rico, played an instrumental role in the introduction and passage of legislation which permitted the realization of the School of Tropical Medicine and the construction of a Capitol building in Puerto Rico.
Antonio Fernós Isern was the first Puerto Rican cardiologist and the longest serving Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico in the United States Congress.
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.
The Liberal Party of Puerto Rico was a pro-Puerto Rican independence political party. The Liberal Party was founded in 1932 as a formal disaffiliation between two political parties which composed the political coalition known as the Alianza (Alliance).
The Partido Estadista Republicano was a political party in Puerto Rico that operated from 1956 to 1968. Its president was Miguel A. García Méndez. The party formed in 1952 after Partido Estadista Puertorriqueño became "Partido Estadista Republicano". It dissolved in 1968 after a split in the party forced it to fold, giving way to Partido Nuevo Progresista.
Santos Primo Amadeo Semidey, a.k.a. "Champion of Hábeas Corpus," was an attorney and law professor at the University of Puerto Rico, a Senator in the Puerto Rico legislature, and counsel to the American Civil Liberties Union branch in Puerto Rico, established in 1937.
The People's Party (PP) was a political party in Puerto Rico, founded by Roberto Sánchez Vilella in 1968. It was also known as el Partido del Sol from its logo which featured a bright orange rising sun.
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.
José A. "Josian" Santiago Rivera is a Puerto Rican politician. He became the mayor of the municipality of Comerío as a member of the Popular Democratic Party (PPD) at the 2000 general elections, and was re-elected in 2004 and 2008. In 2010 Santiago became the president of the Asociación de Alcaldes de Puerto Rico, the organization that regulates cooperation between most mayors affiliated to the PPD.
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.
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.
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 is running for re-election to a second term in office.
