New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico primaries, 2012

New Progressive Party primaries, 2012
Puerto Rico
March 18, 2012

Previous PNP Governor candidate

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 (PNP) 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

District

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

House of Representatives

At-large

District

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

Mayors

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

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

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 Kikito Meléndez 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

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