Thomas Rivera Schatz | |
---|---|
Minority Leader of the Puerto Rico Senate | |
Assumed office January 2, 2021 | |
Preceded by | Eduardo Bhatia |
President of the New Progressive Party | |
Acting | |
In office July 22,2019 –August 16,2020 | |
Preceded by | Ricardo Rosselló |
Succeeded by | Pedro Pierluisi |
14th and 16th President of the Puerto Rico Senate | |
In office January 9,2017 –January 2,2021 | |
Preceded by | Eduardo Bhatia |
Succeeded by | JoséLuis Dalmau |
In office January 2,2009 –January 1,2013 | |
Preceded by | Kenneth McClintock |
Succeeded by | Eduardo Bhatia |
Member of the Puerto Rico Senate from the at-large district | |
Assumed office January 2,2009 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Bronx,New York,U.S. | June 10,1966
Political party | New Progressive |
Other political affiliations | Republican |
Relatives | JoséRivera Díaz (father) |
Education | Interamerican University of Puerto Rico (BA) Interamerican University of Puerto Rico School of Law (JD) |
Thomas Rivera Schatz (born June 10,1966) 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 (abbr. PNP in Spanish) 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.
Rivera Schatz was born on June 10,1966,in the Bronx Borough of New York City. He is the son of JoséA. "Nía" Rivera,a past mayor of Trujillo Alto,and Christina Schatz,a German woman. [1] While in college,he worked full-time at the City of San Juan Public Works Department. He attended the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico School of Law,where he graduated in 1992. A year later,he passed the bar exam required to practice law in Puerto Rico. [2]
Rivera Schatz started his legal career as a legal advisor in the Senate and House of Representatives of Puerto Rico. In 1996,Governor Pedro Rosselló appointed him as a prosecutor at the Puerto Rico Department of Justice. After finishing his service as a prosecutor,he returned to private practice,handling both criminal and civil cases.
In 2000,Rivera Schatz was named Electoral Commissioner for the pro-statehood New Progressive Party (PNP).
Two years later,party president Pedro Rosselló named Rivera Schatz as secretary general of the PNP in addition to his current position as electoral commissioner. He served both positions simultaneously until August 1,2007,when he decided to run for senator.
Rivera Schatz ran for senator at the PNP primaries where he won a slot in the ballot,receiving the second-most votes. In the 2008 general elections,Rivera Schatz was elected senator. His fellow senators then elected him to be the 14th president of Puerto Rico's Senate. As such,he selected the following persons for his team:
Rivera Schatz was sworn into his post on January 12,2009.
Thomas Rivera Schatz was reelected in 2012 and elected for the third time as a member of the Senate majority in the 2016 election with 10.33% of the "at large" votes,placing him in second place after independent senatorial candidate Dr. JoséVargas Vidot and followed by Juan Dalmau of the Puerto Rico Independence Party (PIP). [3] Rivera Schatz was elected to a second term as President of the Senate of Puerto Rico starting January 2017. [4] He holds two records,first as the only reelected Senate President during the past 28 years and the only Senate President ever elected as such to non-consecutive terms.
On July 22,2019,Rivera Schatz announced he would succeed Puerto Rican Governor Ricardo Rossellóas head of the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico (PNP). [5] Rossellóannounced his intention to resign due to the ongoing controversy surrounding Telegramgate. [6]
Rivera Schatz and his father are avid collectors of antique cars. [7] [8]
Pedro Juan RossellóGonzález 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.
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Manuel A. Torres-Nieves,Puerto Rico's longest-serving secretary of the Senate of Puerto Rico in modern times,first served during the tumultuous years of 2005–2008 in which the Senate was controlled by the pro-statehood New Progressive Party (NPP) while the governorship had been controlled by the pro-status quo Popular Democratic Party,served a second consecutive term as Senate Secretary after having served as Acting President of the Senate from January 1–12,2009,between the Senate presidencies of Kenneth McClintock and Thomas Rivera Schatz. He then served as Puerto Rico's first Electoral Comptroller before his third election as secretary of the Senate during Rivera Schatz' historic second non-consecutive term as Senate President,which ended January 11,2021. On March 11,2021,Governor Pedro Pierluisi nominated him as Comptroller of Puerto Rico,a constitutional role which requires the advice and consent of both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Roberto Arango-Vinent is an American politician who served in the Senate of Puerto Rico from January 2005 until August 2011 representing the San Juan district for the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico (NPP),which is a conservative group derived from the Republican Statehood Party.
Roberto Nicolás Rexach Benítez also known as his stage name Bobby,was a Puerto Rican politician,and former Senator and Representative. Rexach Benítez served as the tenth President of the Senate of Puerto Rico from 1993 to 1996. He also served as a member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives from 1973 to 1976,under the Popular Democratic Party (PPD) and as a member of the Senate (1985–1998) under the pro-statehood New Progressive Party (PNP).
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General elections were held in Puerto Rico on Tuesday,November 6,2012,to elect the officials of the Puerto Rican government that would serve for the next four years,most notably the Governor of Puerto Rico. A status referendum was held on the same date.
The Senate of Puerto Rico majority and minority leaders are Puerto Rican Senators who are elected by the party conferences that hold the majority and the minorities respectively. These leaders serve as the chief Senate spokespeople for their parties and manage and schedule the legislative and executive business of the Senate. By rule,the Presiding Officer gives the Majority Leader priority in obtaining recognition to speak on the floor of the Senate. The Majority Leader customarily serves as the chief representative of his or her party in Senate.
ZoéLaboy Alvarado is an American attorney and public servant. Laboy served as Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation from 1997 to 2000. in 2016 she was elected to become a senator with the New Progressive Party (PNP) where she was the leader of the liberal wing of the party. On August 21,2019,she was appointed as Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced's Chief of Staff. In December 2019,she endorsed former Vice president and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden and has served as co-chair on his 2020 presidential campaign "Puerto Rico for Biden Leadership Committee".
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.
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