Puerto Rico is holding elections that will be historic regardless of which of the top two gubernatorial candidates wins.
Puerto Rico is holding elections that will be historic regardless of which of the top two gubernatorial candidates wins.
If Jenniffer González of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party wins Tuesday’s election, it will mark the first time in the island’s history that the party secures three consecutive terms.
If Juan Dalmau, who is running for Puerto Rico’s Independence Party and Citizen Victory Movement, wins, it will be the first win for a candidate not representing either of the two main parties that have dominated the island’s politics for decades.
Trailing González and Dalmau in polls is Jesús Manuel Ortiz of the Popular Democratic Party, which supports the island’s territorial status. Also running is Javier Jiménez of Project Dignity, a conservative party created in 2019.
For decades, the New Progressive Party and the Popular Democratic Party would receive at least 90% of all votes, but that began to change in 2016, with newer parties attracting more voters amid economic and political turmoil.
