New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico primaries, 2012

New Progressive Party primaries, 2012
Puerto Rico
March 18, 2012
PNP Governor candidate before election

Luis Fortuño

 PNP Governor candidate-elect

Luis Fortuño

The 2012 New Progressive Party primaries were the primary elections by which voters of the New Progressive Party (PPD) chose its nominees for various political offices of Puerto Rico for the 2012 general elections. They were held on March 18, 2012 and coincided with the Republican Party primaries in the island.

Background

At the time of the primaries, the New Progressive Party had already chosen current Governor Luis Fortuño, as their gubernatorial candidate for reelection. He would be joined again in the ballot by current Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi. There was the possibility for a primary between Fortuño and aspiring candidate Iván González Cancel, but he wasn't certified by the Commission. González appealed the decision in the courts, but the case was still pending at the time of the primaries.

In the Senate, there were 14 sitting senators looking to retain their election spots. In the House, there were around 6 sitting at-large representatives as well. Also, some returning candidates from previous years, like Carlos Díaz, and other former officeholders, like María Milagros Charbonier and Zoé Laboy, were entering the political race. Current representative Liza M. Fernández was running for a Senate seat this time, while her husband, Angel Pérez, was running for a representative seat in District 6.

Sitting representative Cristóbal Colón Ruíz was also looking to gain an election spot to be mayor of Patillas, against sitting mayor Benjamín Cintrón. There were fifteen sitting mayor from the PNP that were challenged in primaries.[1]

Also, the amount of primaries per municipality and districts were few, when compared to previous years. As a result, the primaries were expected to be of low participation among the party members.

Candidates

Senate

At-large

  • Lucy Arce
  • Héctor Morales
  • Margarita Nolasco
  • Itzamar Peña

District

The New Progressive Party held primaries on 5 of the 8 senatorial districts.

San Juan
Arecibo
Mayagüez-Aguadilla
  • Frank Hernández
  • Luis Daniel Muñiz Cortes
  • Alfredo Ocasio
  • Evelyn Vázquez
  • Benjamín "Bengie" Velázquez
Guayama
Humacao

House of Representatives

At-large

  • Néstor Alonso
  • José Aponte
  • José Chico
  • Jennifer González
  • Jorge Irizarry

District

The New Progressive Party held primaries on 18 of the 40 representative districts.

District 4
District 6
District 11
District 14
District 16
  • Eric Alfaro Calero
  • Armando Nieves
District 18
District 19
  • Rafael Beauchamp
  • Manuel Feliciano
  • Orlando "Pochy" Orta
  • Juan Alberto Zapata
District 21
  • Noel Morales, Jr.
  • Ramoncito Ramos
District 22
District 25
  • Roberto González Rosa
  • Luis Mercado Fraticelli
  • Luis Armando Rivera
District 26
District 29
  • Carlos Junior Aponte
  • Adalberto Reyes
District 31
  • John Corales
  • Roberto López
District 32
  • José R. Camino
  • Orlando Rivera
  • Rafael Uceta
District 34
  • Félix "Johnny" Figueroa
  • José Iván Medina
  • Pickie Díaz
District 35
  • Ciary Pérez
  • Reinaldo Vargas
District 38
  • Eric Correa
  • Israel Matos Vázquez
District 40

Mayors

The New Progressive Party held primaries in 24 of 78 municipalities.

Aguada

Arecibo

Cabo Rojo

Cayey

  • Wilson Colón
  • Omar Vázquez

Ceiba

Cidra

Culebra

Florida

  • Julio "Kosovo" Carrión
  • José Gerena Polanco
  • Aarón Pargas

Guayanilla

Hormigueros

  • Augustine "Chito" Olivencia
  • José "Joe" Rodríguez

Humacao

  • Julio César López
  • Lucrecia Ortíz

Isabela

  • Gabriel Machado
  • Juvencio "Papo" Méndez
  • José Sotomayor

Jayuya

  • Roberto Pagán Crespí
  • Luis Ernesto Torres

Loíza

Luquillo

Manatí

Naguabo

  • Noé Marcano
  • Maritza Meléndez

Patillas

  • Benjamín Cintrón
  • Cristóbal Colón Ruíz

Salinas

San Sebastián

Toa Alta

Utuado

  • Héctor "Tito" Camacho
  • Doris Nilda González
  • Juan Lamboy
  • José "Junior" Pagán
  • Jorgito Pérez

Vega Baja

Results

Senate

At-large

Candidate Popular vote Percentage
Thomas Rivera Schatz 234,259 17.22%
Margarita Nolasco 186,660 13.72
Melinda Romero 177,990 13.08
Itzamar Peña 175,593 12.90
Larry Seilhamer 166,729 12.25
Lucy Arce 142,747 10.49
Héctor Morales 135,381 9.95
Kimmey Raschke 130,414 9.58
Others 10,889 0.82

District

San Juan
Candidate Popular vote Percentage
Zoé Laboy 18,459 39.61%
Liza M. Fernández 16,259 34.78
Eddie Charbonier 11,581 24.83
Others 394 0.78
Arecibo
Candidate Popular vote Percentage
Angel Martínez 21,309 24.50%
José "Joito" Pérez 19,751 22.43
José Emilio González 17,721 19.35
Elaine "Tuti" Soler 12,230 14.03
Edgardo Centeno 7,199 8.60
Juan Miguel Guzmán 6,005 7.18
Others 3,884 3.90
Mayagüez-Aguadilla
Candidate Popular vote Percentage
Luis Daniel Muñiz 25,279 31.63%
Evelyn Vázquez 20,333 25.44%
Benjamín Velázquez 19,912 24.91%
Frank Hernández 6,022 7.53%
Alfredo Ocasio 6,165 7.71%
Others 2,279 2.78%
Guayama
Candidate Popular vote Percentage
Carlos J. Torres 14,794 22.66%
Miguelito Rodríguez 13,776 21.87
Willie Jiménez 13,071 20.78
Osvaldo Colón 13,308 20.27
Mara Sáez 6,931 11.54
Others 1,785 2.89
Humacao
Candidate Popular vote Percentage
Luz M. Santiago 18,032 32.21%
José Ramón Díaz 17,601 31.43
Alex Quiñones 13,097 23.42
Juan Bautista 5,883 10.53
Others 1,474 2.40

House of Representatives

At-large

Candidate Popular vote Percentage
Jennifer González 229,930 16.71%
José (Pichy) Torres Zamora 173,978 12.65%
José Aponte 171,611 12.47%
Lourdes Ramos 158.932 11.57%
María Milagros Charbonier 145,890 10.60%
José E. (Quiquito) Meléndez Ortíz 142,942 10.42%
José Chico 134,983 9.81%
Nélson Alonso 84,634 6.15%
Yumary Peña 81,726 5.94%
Jorge A. Irizarry 38,401 2.79%
Others 12,760 .93%

Aftermath

Allegations of fraud

On the same day of the primaries, PPD Electoral Commissioner Eder Ortíz, claimed he had evidence of fraud from the PNP primaries.[2]

Sitting senators losing

Senators Evelyn Vázquez (District IV) and José Emilio González (District III) had their candidatures at risk. Vázquez win over Benjamín Velázquez was close and could go to a recount,[3] while José Emilio González claimed there were irregularities that could have led to his loss.[4]

Representative District 6

There was a lot of controversy surrounding the primaries for the House of Representatives District 6. Both candidates, Angel Pérez and Antonio Soto, have exchanged leads and have been announced as winners after different vote counts.[5][6] Pérez, who had initially appeared as the loser, claimed there was fraud in the election, and accused Guaynabo mayor, Héctor O'Neill, of orchestrating it.[7] When Pérez was announced as the real winner, O'Neill, who supported Pagán's rival, went into a rant on a radio interview against his own party.[8]

Incumbent mayors losses

Several sitting mayors from the PNP lost their candidacies for the elections. Some of them were Benjamín Cintrón (from Patillas), Lemuel Soto (Arecibo), and Maritza Meléndez (Naguabo).[9]

See also

References

External links