Roberto Prats

Last updated
Roberto Prats
Member of the Puerto Rico Senate
from the At-large district
In office
2000–2004
Personal details
Born1966 (age 5657)
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Political party Popular Democratic Democratic
Alma mater Cornell University (B.A.)
Interamerican University of Puerto Rico (J.D.)
Occupation Politician, Attorney

Roberto Prats Palerm (born 1966) is a former Senator of Puerto Rico, a lawyer, and a former candidate for Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico in the elections of 2004. He is affiliated and a member of the Governing Board of the Popular Democratic Party and chairman of the Democratic Party (United States) in Puerto Rico.

Contents

Education

Prats received his bachelor's degree in policy analysis and management from Cornell University in 1990. He received his Juris Doctor degree from the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico School of Law.

Political career

Prats began working in his early twenties with the Government of Puerto Rico. He worked closely with Sila M. Calderón, then Mayor of San Juan, being the city's Public Affairs and Federal Relations Advisor.

In the 2000 elections, Prats was elected as an at-large Senator, becoming the youngest at-large member that year of the Puerto Rican Senate. During his tenure, Prats pushed legislation that sought to help low-income families, environmental statutes and transportation legislation, and was considered a consensus-builder.

In 2003, Sila M. Calderón announced she would not seek a second term as governor. The resident commissioner of Puerto Rico, Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, was chosen to run for governor in the elections of 2004. Senator Roberto Prats became the Popular Democratic Party's nominee for resident commissioner for the upcoming elections, which he lost to Luis Fortuño, despite a big boost for his congressional campaign, when the Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Terry McAuliffe endorsed him in March 2004. He subsequently was elected state chair of the Democratic Party in Puerto Rico, a position he currently holds, under DNC chairmen Howard Dean, with whom he also has a close relationship, Tim Kaine, the former governor of Virginia, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and Donna Brazile. In the summer of 2016, he was elected to a fourth term as state chair.

One of Puerto Rico's "superdelegates", Prats announced his support in January 2008 of Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential bid and served, along with then-Puerto Rico Senate President Kenneth McClintock, as co-chair of her Hispanic Leadership Council, in spite of his former running mate's (Gov. Acevedo Vilá's) endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama. Prats and McClintock also co-chaired Clinton's successful June 1, 2008 primary campaign in the U.S. territory. Both once again were her top spokespersons in Puerto Rico for the June 5, 2016 Puerto Rico primary, which she also won by over 60% of the vote.

In 2009, Prats was elected a member of the DNC's executive committee, the highest ranking Puerto Rican within the Democratic National Committee.

In November 2010, he coauthored a book on the 2008 Hillary Clinton campaign in Puerto Rico with McClintock, then Secretary of State.

Publication

Te Quiero Puerto Rico - Primaria Presidencial Demócrata 2008, [1] Co-author with Kenneth McClintock, Aguilar, a subsidiary of Editorial Santillana, First edition in Spanish (200pp), 2010, ISBN   978-1-60484-744-4

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Politics of Puerto Rico</span> Politics of a U.S. territory

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sila María Calderón</span> Governor Puerto Rico (b. 1942)

Sila María Calderón Serra is a Puerto Rican politician, businesswoman, and philanthropist who was the governor of Puerto Rico from 2001 to 2005. She is the first woman elected to that office. Prior to her term as governor, Calderón held various positions in the government of Puerto Rico, including the 12th Secretary of State of Puerto Rico from 1988 to 1989, and Chief of Staff to Governor Rafael Hernández Colón. She was also mayor of San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico, from 1997 to 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pedro Rosselló</span> Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Progressive Party (Puerto Rico)</span> Major political party in Puerto Rico

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2004 Puerto Rican general election</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luis Fortuño</span> Puerto Rican politician (born 1960)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenneth McClintock</span> American politician

Kenneth Davison McClintock-Hernández is a politician who served as the twenty-second Secretary of State of Puerto Rico, one of the four longest serving in that post. McClintock served as co-chair of Hillary Clinton’s National Hispanic Leadership Council in 2008, he co-chaired her successful Puerto Rico primary campaign that year and served as the Thirteenth President of the Senate of Puerto Rico until December 31, 2008. He chaired Luis Fortuño’s Incoming Committee on Government Transition in 2008 and the Outgoing Committee on Government Transition in 2012, the only Puerto Rican to serve in both capacities. He was sworn into office as secretary of state on January 2, 2009, by Chief Justice Federico Hernández Denton, fulfilling the role of lieutenant governor in the islands.

Norma E. Burgos Andújar is a Puerto Rican politician who served as the Lieutenant Governor and the 16th Secretary of State under Governor Pedro Rosselló from 1995 to 1999. She also served as a member of the Senate of Puerto Rico from 2000 to 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 Puerto Rican general election</span>

General elections were held in Puerto Rico on Tuesday, November 4, 2008, to elect the officials of the Government of Puerto Rico that would serve for the next four years, most notably the Governor of Puerto Rico.

Francisco J. Domenech is a former Director of the Office of Legislative Services of Puerto Rico (2005–2008). Domenech spent part of his childhood, and adolescent years, in Ocala, Florida, having attended Blessed Trinity Catholic School, and Forest High School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">José Luis Dalmau</span> Puerto Rican politician (born 1966)

José Luis Dalmau Santiago is an attorney and politician. He is the current President of the Senate of Puerto Rico. In February of 2023, he announced that he was evaluating the possibility of a PDP candidacy for governor of Puerto Rico in the 2024 elections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 Puerto Rico Democratic presidential primary</span> Held in Puerto Rico on June 1, 2008

The 2008 Puerto Rico Democratic presidential primary took place on June 1, 2008. It was an open primary. Puerto Rico initially planned to hold caucuses, as was done in 2000 and 2004, on June 7, 2008. In December 2007, an error in the plan was discovered; the caucus date should have read June 1, 2008. Puerto Rico also decided to conduct a primary, rather than caucuses. Puerto Rico sent 55 pledged delegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention. These delegates were allotted on a proportional basis. The territory's delegation also included eight unpledged "superdelegates". Puerto Rico also selected one unpledged add-on delegate. Selection of the unpledged add-on delegate occurred at the Assembly of the Democratic Party of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico on June 21, 2008, in San Juan. Polls were open from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm, prevailing local time, Atlantic Standard Time (AST). Hillary Clinton won the primary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aníbal Acevedo Vilá</span> Puerto Rican politician (born 1962)

Aníbal Salvador Acevedo Vilá is a Puerto Rican politician and lawyer. He served as the governor of Puerto Rico from 2005 to 2009. He is a Harvard University alumnus and a graduate of the University of Puerto Rico School of Law, where he obtained his Juris Doctor degree. Acevedo Vilá has held various public service positions in the Puerto Rico government under the Popular Democratic Party, serving as a member of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico (1993–2001) and as the 17th Resident Commissioner (2001–2005), before he was sworn in as Governor on 2 January 2005. Acevedo Vilá was also a member of the National Governors Association, the Southern Governors' Association and the Democratic Governors Association, and a collaborator of President Barack Obama's presidential campaign. Also he is currently an adjunct professor of the University of Puerto Rico School of Law. He unsuccessfully ran for Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico in the 2020 elections for the Popular Democratic Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Popular Democratic Party (Puerto Rico)</span> Political party in Puerto Rico

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Puerto Rico Young Democrats</span> Non-profit political corporation

The Young Democrats of America Puerto Rico Chapter is a non-profit political corporation organized pursuant to General Corporate Law of Puerto Rico and duly registered in the Department of State of Puerto Rico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico primaries</span> Primary elections

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.

Jorge Colberg Toro is a Puerto Rican politician, a former Member of the House of Representatives and a College Professor. He served as a member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives from 2003 to 2013. He also was Secretary for Public Affairs for the former governors Sila M. Calderon and Alejandro García Padilla and Secretary General of the Popular Democratic Party (PDP). Currently, he is a Government and Public Policy College Professor at the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico, a political, legislative and government consultant, speechwriter and a TV & Radio political analyst.

Aníbal José "Jossie" Torres is a Puerto Rican politician and lawyer affiliated with the Popular Democratic Party (PPD). Torres has served in several positions of leadership within his party. He served as Secretary of the party during the 2000s, before being appointed as Puerto Rico Chief of Staff by elected Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá in 2005. After serving four years, he returned to his position as Secretary of the PPD, before deciding to run for the Senate of Puerto Rico at the 2012 general elections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">José La Luz</span> Labor activist

José La Luz is a labor activist and intellectual who organizes, promotes and advocates for worker rights in Puerto Rico and the United States. He was the architect of the grassroots campaign that resulted in the 1998 passage of Puerto Rico's Law 45, which granted bargaining rights and allowed for the unionization of over 120,000 public employees. La Luz was the Associate Director of the Leadership Academy for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees until his retirement in 2014. La Luz also served on the National Political Committee of the Democratic Socialists of America

José Rafael Nadal Power is a Puerto Rican politician from the Popular Democratic Party (PPD). Nadal Power was elected to the Senate of Puerto Rico in 2012.

References

  1. "LIBRO te quiero Puerto Rico, Primaria Presidencial Democrata 2008: FREE SHIPPING @ MusicaBoricua". Archived from the original on 2011-09-28. Retrieved 2011-10-13.