Mid November 2020

Introduction

The election results are in and it is fair to say the results demonstrate a diversity of political opinions here. As I mentioned in my previous post, most races attracted candidates from five parties, and sometimes an independent as well. So here are the results for a few of the races and an overview of some others.

Late Breaking News

The election commission here, on 11/11/2020, reported finding 184 ballot containers filled with uncounted ballots. Given the closeness of some of these races, one wonders how these ballots will reflect the results I present below. Stay tuned.

Governor

Pedro Pierluisi of the New Democratic Party (NDP) barely defeated former Isabela Mayor Carlos Delgado Altieri of the Popular Democratic Party (PDP). Here are the results by percentage of the total turnout of about 1,200,000,

• Perdro Pierluisi Urrutia (NDP) 32.93%
• Carlos Delgado Altieri (PDP) 31.56%
• Alexandre Lugaro Aponte (Citizen’s Victory Movement) 14.21%
• Juan Dalmau Rodriguez (Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP)) 13.72%
• Cesar Vazquez Muniz (Project Dignity) 6.9%
• Eliezer Molina Perez (Independent) 0.69%

So the pro-statehood NDP retains the governorship, but not by much. In a bit of a surprise, all five parties received enough votes to be registered. That means they have an assured place on the next ballot.

I ran into my friend Eduardo after the election. As usual, he provided me with interesting insights. I asked if there would be a runoff election given that no candidate won a majority. He said not under current law but that is being considered.

Resident Commissioner

The incumbent Jennifer Gonzalez was reelected with 40.85% of the vote. She, like the Governor, is a member of the pro-statehood NDP. In this election, the pro-Independence party candidate, Luis Roberto Pinero, received 6.37% of the vote, last among the five candidates.

Statehood

The non-binding referendum on statehood passed, with Yes votes coming in at 52.34%. Prior to the election, the NDP promised to promote statehood if the referendum passed. It will be interesting to see how this plays out – the invitation for statehood has to come from the U. S. Congress. Given that the House will be majority Democrat and the Senate will (most likely) be majority Republican, it would seem statehood will not be high on anyone’s agenda. And if statehood in general is up for discussion, one wonders how the issue of Puerto Rican statehood meshes with statehood for the District of Columbia.

Tennessee was the 16th state to join the union, and the first state to have been a territory prior to statehood. It seems that Puerto Rico is in a somewhat similar position, I wrote about the so-called Tennessee Gambit in an earler post.

I’m going to check and see how many other former territories had the option of independence or statehood. Texas and California come to mind. I’ll have to research that.

Again, my friend Eduardo has an interesting perspective. He is pro-independence and suggests there should be an island wide referendum with three choices: statehood, independence, and the status quo. The top two choices would then be on the final, binding referendum.

As a San Juan native, Eduardo is full if useful information. One time I asked why a particular stretch of beach, popular with surfers, was called Playa de Ocho, Beach Eight. He told me it was because it was the eighth stop on the street car line leaving San Juan.

I have heard San Juan natives say something is near stop (Parada) 15 even though stop 15 no longer exists. It is a code known only to San Juan natives.

Parada 18 was apparently an important interchange point, and there is a building there named Parada 18. The Parada 18 bar and restaurant is close by, on Avenida Ponce de Leon.

There is, at least the last time I was there, a Parada 18 restaurant in San Francisco, on Haight Street past Amoeba Music heading towards the east end of Golden Gate Park. Check it out the next time you’re in San Francisco. I’m sure they serve Puerto Rican specialties.

Senate and House

Every seat in the Commonwealth is up for election every four years and so every Senator and Representative faced reeelection.

In the Senate, the New Progressive Party lost their 2/3 majority, dropping to nine seats of the 27 in the senate. The Popular Democrats gained seats, to a total of 13. The senate is the most diverse in history with five parties represented: Citizens Victory Movement – two, one each for Project Dignity and the Puerto Rico Independence Party. In addition, there is one senator not affiliated with any party.

The situation is similar in the House, with all five parties represented. The Popular Democrats have 26 of the 51 seats, the New Progressives 21, with two to the Citizens Victory Movement and one each to Project Dignity and the Puerto Rican Independence Party.

And there is always the sceptre of corruption. One NPP representative, Nestor Alonso Vega, has resigned since the election. Vega was indicted by a federal grand jury and faces nine federal charges, including receiving illegal commissions (aka kickbacks), wire fraud, and theft of federal funds from the government of Puerto Rico. He was arrested by the FBI.

No one would be surprised if other arrests were to occur, with similar charges against other individuals.

Mayor of San Juan

Miguel Romero of the New Progressive Party is the Mayor-elect of the capitol city of San Juan. Romero was elected over four other candidates and recieved 36.22% of the votes cast. He is a political veteran, having held several offices. Romero once served as Chief of Staff to a governor, and twice represented Puerto Rico at the Democratic National Convention.

Conclusion

Puerto Rico faces a challenging time with a diverse, divided government. It will be interesting. But I am looking forward to the Inauguration, on New Years Day. In the past it has been a festive time, with music, a procession from the Capitol to the Governor’s Mansion, etc. It will be interesting to see how covid will affect the event.