2012 Puerto Rican general election
| |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
Gubernatorial election | |||||||||||||||||||
Turnout | 78.11% | ||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||
Results by municipality Padilla: 40-50% 50-60% Fortuño: 40–50% 50–60% | |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
Resident Commissioner election | |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
|
Elections in Puerto Rico |
---|
General elections were held in
The gubernatorial elections were won by then-Senator Alejandro García Padilla from the Popular Democratic Party (PPD), who defeated incumbent governor Luis Fortuño from the New Progressive Party (PNP) in a close election. This election marked the second time in more than 40 years that six parties participated in the election, the first time in more than 60 years that a status referendum was held on the same day as the general election, and the first time in Puerto Rico that absentee ballots were issued for those who were out of the country on the day of the election.[2] As of 2023[update], this was the most recent time a member of the Popular Democratic Party won the governorship of Puerto Rico, and the last time a Republican did so.
In the elections for Resident Commissioner, incumbent Pedro Pierluisi of the PNP (who caucused with the Democratic Party and who was first elected in 2008, narrowly won reelection for a second term.[3] Pierluisi defeated his closest opponent, Rafael Cox Alomar of the PPD by almost 1.3%.[3]
Candidates
Before the election year, the constitution of Puerto Rico provides for any qualified person to present their candidacy for a specific position. If two or more candidates from the same party present their candidacy for the same position, and they can't reach an agreement within the party, a primary election is held. This election is held within the inscribed members of each party, to select which of the candidates will represent the party in the general election.
Both of the main parties, the PNP and PPD, held primaries for several positions on March 18, 2012.
New Progressive Party (PNP)
The primaries were held on March 18, 2012 to determine several candidates for the
Popular Democratic Party (PPD)
The primaries were held on March 18, 2012 to determine several candidates for the
Governor
New Progressive Party
Incumbent Governor of Puerto Rico, Luis Fortuño, announced his candidacy for reelection in October 2011.[4] Former Secretary of Health, Iván González Cancel, challenged him to a primary, but the court ruled it out.[5][6]
Popular Democratic Party
Current senator Alejandro García Padilla, announced his candidacy in March 2011.[7]
Puerto Rican Independence Party
Former Electoral Commissioner
Puerto Ricans for Puerto Rico
Rogelio Figueroa was the candidate for governor for the PPR party.[9]
Movimiento Unión Soberanista
The
Working People's Party
Professor Rafael Bernabe was announced as the gubernatorial candidate for the PPT in June 2012.[12]
Resident Commissioner
The incumbent
- Rafael Cox Alomar, Popular Democratic Party (PPD)
- Juan Mercado Nieves, Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP)
- Sadiasept Guillont Juarbe, Puerto Ricans for Puerto Rico Party (PPR)
- María de Lourdes Guzmán, Movimiento Union Soberanista(MUS)
- Félix Córdova Iturregui, Working People's Party (PPT)
Senate
At-large
The ballot featured seventeen (17) candidates from six different parties and one independent candidate (bold denotes incumbent candidates)
|
|
District
|
|
House of Representatives
At-large
The ballot featured sixteen (16) candidates from six different parties and one independent candidate (bold denotes incumbent candidates)
|
|
Campaign
The campaign of the main opposing party, the PPD, focused mostly on the problems of crime, unemployment, and high utility costs, attributing them to the failure of the incumbent governor, Luis Fortuño, from the PNP.[13] The PNP, on the other hand, focused mostly on the lack of experience of the PPD candidate, Alejandro García Padilla.[14]
The minority parties have directed their campaign at the inability of the main two parties to administer the country. The
Debates
There were two official debates celebrated with all
Results
Governor
In the morning of November 7, 2012, Fortuño conceded the election to Alejandro García Padilla, just as the last votes were being counted.
Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Alejandro García Padilla | Popular Democratic Party | 896,060 | 48.04 | |
Luis Fortuño | New Progressive Party | 884,775 | 47.44 | |
Juan Dalmau | Puerto Rican Independence Party | 47,331 | 2.54 | |
Rafael Bernabe Riefkohl | Working People's Party | 18,312 | 0.98 | |
Arturo Hernández | Movimiento Unión Soberanista | 10,523 | 0.56 | |
Rogelio Figueroa | Puerto Ricans for Puerto Rico Party | 6,668 | 0.36 | |
Write-ins | 1,375 | 0.07 | ||
Total | 1,865,044 | 100.00 | ||
Valid votes | 1,865,044 | 99.36 | ||
Invalid votes | 7,488 | 0.40 | ||
Blank votes | 4,523 | 0.24 | ||
Total votes | 1,877,055 | 100.00 | ||
Registered voters/turnout | 2,402,941 | 78.11 | ||
Source: Puerto Rico Election Archive |
Resident commissioner
The incumbent Pedro Pierluisi from the PNP defeated the candidate from the PPD, Rafael Cox Alomar. Pierluisi managed to be reelected, despite the fact that his ballot partner, Governor Fortuño, lost against the PPD candidate. This would be the second time in the last 10 years where the governor and the resident commissioner came from different parties. The first one was after the 2004 elections where PPD candidate Aníbal Acevedo Vilá narrowly won the election, while Fortuño (PNP) was elected resident commissioner.
Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Pedro Pierluisi | New Progressive Party | 905,066 | 48.76 | |
Rafael Cox Alomar | Popular Democratic Party | 881,181 | 47.47 | |
Juan Mercado Nieves | Puerto Rican Independence Party | 38,941 | 2.10 | |
Félix Córdova Iturregui | Working People's Party | 13,120 | 0.71 | |
María de Lourdes Guzmán | Movimiento Unión Soberanista | 11,764 | 0.63 | |
Sadiasept Guillont Juarbe | Puerto Ricans for Puerto Rico Party | 5,647 | 0.30 | |
Write-ins | 626 | 0.03 | ||
Total | 1,856,345 | 100.00 | ||
Valid votes | 1,856,345 | 99.36 | ||
Invalid votes | 7,488 | 0.40 | ||
Blank votes | 4,523 | 0.24 | ||
Total votes | 1,868,356 | 100.00 | ||
Registered voters/turnout | 2,402,941 | 77.75 | ||
Source: Puerto Rico Election Archive |
Senate
The PPD won a majority of seats in the
Party | At-large | District | Total seats | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | |||
Popular Democratic Party | 822,011 | 46.02 | 6 | 1,767,573 | 49.44 | 12 | 18 | |
New Progressive Party | 788,426 | 44.14 | 4 | 1,677,558 | 46.92 | 4 | 8 | |
Puerto Rican Independence Party | 138,167 | 7.74 | 1 | 97,626 | 2.73 | 0 | 1 | |
Movimiento Unión Soberanista | 11,842 | 0.66 | 0 | 16,384 | 0.46 | 0 | 0 | |
Working People's Party | 8,891 | 0.50 | 0 | 9,859 | 0.28 | 0 | 0 | |
Puerto Ricans for Puerto Rico Party | 3,256 | 0.18 | 0 | 4,642 | 0.13 | 0 | 0 | |
Other parties | 291 | 0.02 | 0 | 1,160 | 0.03 | 0 | 0 | |
Independents | 13,327 | 0.75 | 0 | 243 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 | |
Total | 1,786,211 | 100.00 | 11 | 3,575,045 | 100.00 | 16 | 27 | |
Valid votes | 1,786,211 | 98.98 | ||||||
Invalid votes | 9,293 | 0.51 | ||||||
Blank votes | 9,193 | 0.51 | ||||||
Total votes | 1,804,697 | 100.00 | ||||||
Registered voters/turnout | 2,402,941 | 75.10 | ||||||
Source: Puerto Rico Election Archive |
House of Representatives
The PPD also won a majority of seats in the
Party | At-large | District | Total seats | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | |||
Popular Democratic Party | 842,513 | 46.93 | 6 | 884,677 | 48.92 | 22 | 28 | |
New Progressive Party | 826,323 | 46.03 | 5 | 853,571 | 47.20 | 18 | 23 | |
Puerto Rican Independence Party | 87,716 | 4.89 | 0 | 48,606 | 2.69 | 0 | 0 | |
Movimiento Unión Soberanista | 22,196 | 1.24 | 0 | 7,560 | 0.42 | 0 | 0 | |
Working People's Party | 10,656 | 0.59 | 0 | 4,506 | 0.25 | 0 | 0 | |
Puerto Ricans for Puerto Rico Party | 4,560 | 0.25 | 0 | 864 | 0.05 | 0 | 0 | |
Other parties | 424 | 0.02 | 0 | 8,538 | 0.47 | 0 | 0 | |
Independents | 739 | 0.04 | 0 | 0 | ||||
Total | 1,795,127 | 100.00 | 11 | 1,808,322 | 100.00 | 40 | 51 | |
Valid votes | 1,795,127 | 98.98 | 1,808,322 | 98.99 | ||||
Invalid votes | 9,293 | 0.51 | 9,293 | 0.51 | ||||
Blank votes | 9,193 | 0.51 | 9,193 | 0.50 | ||||
Total votes | 1,813,613 | 100.00 | 1,826,808 | 100.00 | ||||
Registered voters/turnout | 2,402,941 | 75.47 | 2,402,941 | 76.02 | ||||
Source: Puerto Rico Election Archive |
Mayors
The PPD won a majority of the mayoralty races in the island, with a total of 46 out of 78 municipalities. The
Party | Mayoralties | |
---|---|---|
Popular Democratic Party | 47 | |
New Progressive Party | 31 | |
Puerto Rican Independence Party | 0 | |
Movimiento Unión Soberanista | 0 | |
Working People's Party | 0 | |
Puerto Ricans for Puerto Rico Party | 0 | |
Total | 78 |
References
- ^ "Electoral Calendar - international elections world elections". Retrieved May 12, 2011.
- ^ Díaz, Carmen (June 24, 2012). "Elección para la historia". El Vocero. Archived from the original on July 6, 2012. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
- ^ a b "Puerto Rican Governor Luis Fortuno loses re-election". Voxxi. November 7, 2012. Archived from the original on September 29, 2013. Retrieved November 10, 2012.
- ^ "Luis Fortuño anuncia su candidatura a la reelección a gobernador de Puerto Rico en 2012". WKAQ 580. October 7, 2011. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
- ^ Bliss, Peggy Ann (August 1, 2011). "González Cancel launches NPP primary fight". Puerto Rico Daily Sun. Archived from the original on March 28, 2012. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
- ^ Cordero, Gerardo (September 5, 2012). "Sigue la espera por decisión judicial el médico Iván González Cancel". El Nuevo Día. Archived from the original on September 9, 2012. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
- ^ Gómez, Antonio (March 7, 2011). "Alejandro García Padilla se tira de pecho". Primera Hora. Archived from the original on March 10, 2011. Retrieved April 5, 2011.
- ^ "PIP presents campaign staff and government program". Puerto Rico Daily Sun. January 30, 2012. Retrieved May 11, 2012.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Rogelio Figueroa lanza su campaña como candidato a la gobernación". Archived from the original on February 21, 2013.
- ^ "MUS ratifuca sus candidatos para las elecciones generales". RedBetances.
- ^ "MUS elige a Arturo Hernández como candidato a gobernador". El Vocero. August 12, 2012. Archived from the original on January 8, 2013.
- ^ Rivera, Ivelisse (June 16, 2012). "Rafael Bernabe es el candidato a la gobernación por el PPT". Archived from the original on June 30, 2012. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
- ^ "Fortuño no ha cumplido 20 de 24 promesas sobre criminalidad". NotiCel. October 6, 2012. Archived from the original on October 8, 2012. Retrieved November 6, 2012.
- ^ Cordero, Gerardo and Rebecca Banuchi (October 31, 2012). "Dúo PNP ataca récord legislativo de García Padilla". El Nuevo Día. Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved November 6, 2012.
- ^ Rodríguez, Israel (October 27, 2012). "Un mensaje claro y más contacto". El Nuevo Día. Archived from the original on October 28, 2012. Retrieved November 6, 2012.
- ^ Rivera, Aurora (November 4, 2012). "Promete el PPT que seguirá en pie de lucha". El Nuevo Día. Archived from the original on November 5, 2012. Retrieved November 6, 2012.
- ^ "El Gran Debate acapara la teleaudiencia". El Nuevo Día. Archived from the original on October 28, 2012. Retrieved November 6, 2012.
- ^ "Luis Fortuño acepta su derrota". El Nuevo Día. November 7, 2012. Archived from the original on November 9, 2012. Retrieved November 8, 2012.