Puerto Rican general election, 2004

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Puerto Rico
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The Puerto Rico General Elections of 2004 took place on Election Day, 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.

The post of Governor of Puerto Rico and the entire House of Representatives and the entire Senate, as well as the Mayors of the municipalities of Puerto Rico, and the Resident Commissioner were also elected for four-year terms.

For the first time in Puerto Rican history, citizens unable to mobilize to voting colleges for medical reasons, but capable of practicing their right to vote, were visited in their own homes and hospitals so that they could exercise their vote.^{[citation needed]}

1 Candidates for Governor
2 Candidates for Resident Commissioner
3 Results
4 External link

[edit] Candidates for Governor

Anibal Acevedo Vila for the Popular Democratic Party
Pedro Rosello for the New Progressive Party
Ruben Berrios for the Puerto Rican Independence Party

[edit] Candidates for Resident Commissioner

Edwin Irizarry Mora for the Puerto Rican Independence Party
Luis Fortuño for the New Progressive Party
Roberto Prats for the Popular Democratic Party

[edit] Results

Main article: Results of the Puerto Rico General Elections of 2004.

[discuss] – [edit]
**Summary of the 2 November 2004 Puerto Rico governor election results**
	Votes	%
Aníbal Acevedo Vilá - Popular Democratic Party	963,303	48.40
Pedro Rosselló - New Progressive Party	959,737	48.22
Rubén Berríos Martínez - Puerto Rican Independence Party	54,551	2.74
Others	12,781	0.64
Total (turnout 81.7 %)		100.0
Source: (Spanish) CEEPUR

[discuss] – [edit]
**Summary of the 2 November 2004 Puerto Rico House of Representatives election results**
Parties		District Votes	District %	District Seats	At Large Votes	At Large %	At Large Seats	Total
	New Progressive Party (Partido Nuevo Progresista)	936,030	48.4	26	886,151	46.3	6	32
	Popular Democratic Party (Partido Popular Democrático)	901,326	46.6	14	824,472	43.1	4	18
	Puerto Rican Independence Party (Partido Independentista Puertorriqueño)	77,289	4.0	0	186,197	9.7	1	1
	Civic Alternative Party (Partido Alternativa Ciudadana)	1,682	0.1	0	-	-	-	-
	Civil Action Party (Partido Acción Civil)	423	0.0	0	-	-	-	-
	Others	1,161	0.1	0	457	0.0	0	-
Total		1,917,911	100.0	40	1,897,277	100.0	11	51
Blank and Null Votes		17,245	0.9	-	17,245	0.9	-	-
Total votes cast		1,935,156	-	-	1,914,522	-	-	-
Source: (Spanish) Elections Puerto Rico

[discuss] – [edit]
**Summary of the 2 November 2004 Puerto Rico Senate election results**
Parties		District Votes	District %	District Seats	At Large Votes	At Large %	At Large Seats	Total
	New Progressive Party (Partido Nuevo Progresista)	1,845,204	48.6	11	845,228	44.3	6	17
	Popular Democratic Party (Partido Popular Democrático)	1,768,374	46.6	5	767,626	40.3	4	9
	Puerto Rican Independence Party (Partido Independentista Puertorriqueño)	160,632	4.2	0	178,541	9.4	1	1
	Independence Movement of the Eastern Region (Movimiento Independiente Region Este)	2,936	0.1	0	-	-	-	-
	Independent	-	-	-	97,673	5.1	0	-
	Others	826	0.0	0	297	0.0	0	-
Total (turnout 81.7 %)		3,777,972	100.0	16	1,889,365	100.0	11	27
Blank and Null Votes		17,245	0.4	-	17,245	0.7	-	-
Total votes cast		3,795,217	-	-	1,906,610	-	-	-
Source: (Spanish) Elections Puerto Rico

The 2004 General Elections were the second closest in Puerto Rican history. PPD candidate Anibal Acevedo Vila got 953, 459 votes, or 48.36%. PNP candidate Pedro Rossello received 949, 579 votes, or 48.19%. Ruben Berrios received 52,660 votes, or 2.5%.

Anibal Acevedo Vila was ultimately the winner of the gubernatorial election, but Puerto Rican Law requires that a full recount of the election be carried out since the margin of victory was so small. The full recount was carried, reconfirming Acevedo Vila's lead on the electoral polls. This victory was declared almost a month and a half after the general election. As a by product of the recount, controversy divided the public opinion on the victory because of a vote that became known as "pivazo". When Acevedo became Governor, he was the first Governor in Puerto Rican history that does not have a Resident Commissioner of his same party (in part thanks to the "pivazo" vote), since Luis Fortuño of the PNP won the election against Roberto Prats for the post of Resident Commissioner.^{[citation needed]}

The PNP won 42 mayoralty races, while the PPD won 36.^{[citation needed]}

The PNP also won 17 of 27 seats in the Senate, and 32 of the 51 seats in the House of Representatives.^{[citation needed]} Two days after the 2004 election, the party's caucuses nominated Kenneth McClintock as the next Senate President and Jose Aponte as the next Speaker of the House.^{[citation needed]} Both were formally elected to those posts at the inaugural sessions of their respective legislative bodies on January 10, 2005.^{[citation needed]}

Seen as a whole, the PNP's victories in almost two thirds of legislative races, well over half of all city hall races and Puerto Rico's non-voting Congressional seat, suggest that voters specifically rejected the party's only major candidate for office, gubernatorial nominee Pedro Rossello, who later unsuccessfully attempted, throughout the year following his defeat, to unseat and replace Kenneth McClintock as Senate president, a contest which has effectively ended.^{[citation needed]}