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General elections were held in Puerto Rico on Tuesday, November 8, 2016, to elect the officials of the Puerto Rican government to serve from January 2017 to January 2021, most notably the Governor of Puerto Rico. Ricardo Rosselló was elected governor and Jenniffer González-Colón was elected Resident Commissioner. The elections saw a 23 percentage point drop in turnout and was the lowest voter turnout in Puerto Rican history.
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Gubernatorial election | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 55.33% ( 22.78pp) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Results by municipality Rosselló: 30-40% 40-50% 50-60% Bernier: 30–40% 40–50% 50–60% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Resident Commissioner election | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Results by municipality González: 40-50% 50-60% Ferrer: 40–50% 50–60% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Rossello would go on to serve a two-year term, having to resign on August 2, 2019, after protests as a result of the Telegramgate scandal. Wanda Vázquez Garced succeeded Rossello.
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Nominations
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: New Progressive Party (PNP) and Popular Democratic Party (PPD), held primaries for several positions on June 5, 2016.
New Progressive Party (PNP)
The primaries were held on June 5, 2016, to determine candidates for Governor of Puerto Rico, the Senate, House of Representatives, and others. In the race to be the party's gubernatorial candidate, Ricardo Rosselló defeated Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi
Popular Democratic Party (PPD)
The primaries were held on June 5, 2016, to determine several candidates for the Senate, House of Representatives, and others.
Minor parties
Two minor parties officialized their gubernatorial candidates. The Working People's Party (PPT) nominated Rafael Bernabe once again.[1] The Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) nominated María de Lourdes Santiago.
Independents
Two independent candidates expressed their interest in running for Governor:
- Alexandra Lúgaro, attorney[2]
- Manuel Cidre, businessman[3]
Governor
The official candidates for the position of Governor of Puerto Rico are:
- David Bernier, Popular Democratic Party (PPD)
- Ricky Rosselló, New Progressive Party (PNP)
- María de Lourdes Santiago, Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP)
- Rafael Bernabe Riefkohl, Working People's Party of Puerto Rico (PPT)
- Alexandra Lúgaro, Independent candidate
- Manuel Cidre, Independent candidate
Alejandro García Padilla, the incumbent governor declined to run for re-election.[4]
Resident commissioner
The resident commissioner of Puerto Rico is the only member of the United States House of Representatives who is elected every four years instead of a two-year term. The resident commissioner and gubernatorial candidates run together as a ticket, like a governor/lieutenant governor ticket would run in the other states, but there are still separate general elections for each position.
The official candidates for the position of Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico are:
- Héctor Ferrer, Popular Democratic Party (PPD)
- Jenniffer González, New Progressive Party (PNP)
- Hugo Rodríguez, Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP)
- Mariana Nogales, Working People's Party of Puerto Rico (PPT)
Senate of Puerto Rico
At-large
The ballot featured sixteen (16) candidates from four different parties and one independent candidate (bold denotes incumbent candidates)
| New Progressive Party (PNP)
Popular Democratic Party (PPD) |
Other parties
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District
San Juan
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Ponce
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House of Representatives
At-large
The ballot featured sixteen (16) candidates from four different parties (bold denotes incumbent candidates)
New Progressive Party (PNP)
Popular Democratic Party (PPD)
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Other parties
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Governor
The candidate from the New Progressive Party (PNP) Ricky Rosselló beat the candidate from the Popular Democratic Party (PPD) David Bernier obtaining 42% of the votes against 39% for Bernier. Most notably, the two independent candidates – Alexandra Lúgaro and Manuel Cidre – managed to arrive in third and fourth place with 11% and 6% respectively. For the fourth election in a row, the candidate of the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) failed to receive the required 3% of the votes to remain registered. The same result happened to Rafael Bernabe from the Working People's Party (PPT) for the second election in a row. It was the first time since 1964 that one of the two main parties received less than 40% of the vote and the first time since 1968 that a third-party candidate received more than 10% of the vote.[5]
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ricardo Rosselló | New Progressive Party | 660,510 | 41.75 | |
| David Bernier | Popular Democratic Party | 614,190 | 38.82 | |
| Alexandra Lúgaro | Independent | 175,831 | 11.11 | |
| Manuel Cidre | Independent | 90,494 | 5.72 | |
| María de Lourdes Santiago | Puerto Rican Independence Party | 33,729 | 2.13 | |
| Rafael Bernabe Riefkohl | Working People's Party | 5,430 | 0.34 | |
| Write-ins | 1,776 | 0.11 | ||
| Total | 1,581,960 | 100.00 | ||
| Valid votes | 1,581,960 | 99.71 | ||
| Invalid votes | 708 | 0.04 | ||
| Blank votes | 3,883 | 0.24 | ||
| Total votes | 1,586,551 | 100.00 | ||
| Registered voters/turnout | 2,867,557 | 55.33 | ||
| Source: CEEPUR | ||||
Resident Commissioner
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jenniffer González-Colón | New Progressive Party | 718,591 | 48.59 | |
| Héctor Ferrer | Popular Democratic Party | 695,073 | 47.00 | |
| Hugo Rodríguez | Puerto Rican Independence Party | 39,704 | 2.68 | |
| Mariana Nogales Molinelli | Working People's Party | 19,033 | 1.29 | |
| Write-ins | 6,415 | 0.43 | ||
| Total | 1,478,816 | 100.00 | ||
| Valid votes | 1,478,816 | 99.69 | ||
| Invalid votes | 712 | 0.05 | ||
| Blank votes | 3,883 | 0.26 | ||
| Total votes | 1,483,411 | 100.00 | ||
| Registered voters/turnout | 2,867,557 | 51.73 | ||
| Source: CEEPUR | ||||
Senate
The numbers of legislators in this senate increased from 27 to 30, because the PNP won 21 of the 27 seats in contention, surpassing the two-thirds limit (18 seats). This automatically triggered Article Three of the Constitution of Puerto Rico which mandates that in such case new seats must be open for minority legislators. These new seats account for the number of seats the majority party surpassed (three seats in this election).
| Party | At-large | District | Total seats | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | |||
| New Progressive Party | 664,553 | 45.30 | 6 | 1,440,050 | 50.38 | 15 | 21 | |
| Popular Democratic Party | 503,630 | 34.33 | 6 | 1,210,903 | 42.36 | 1 | 7 | |
| Puerto Rican Independence Party | 130,583 | 8.90 | 1 | 150,904 | 5.28 | 0 | 1 | |
| Working People's Party | 9,957 | 0.68 | 0 | 53,335 | 1.87 | 0 | 0 | |
| Other parties | 538 | 0.04 | 0 | 3,298 | 0.12 | 0 | 0 | |
| Independents | 157,788 | 10.76 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 1,467,049 | 100.00 | 14 | 2,858,490 | 100.00 | 16 | 30 | |
| Valid votes | 1,467,049 | 99.13 | ||||||
| Invalid votes | 953 | 0.06 | ||||||
| Blank votes | 11,872 | 0.80 | ||||||
| Total votes | 1,479,874 | 100.00 | ||||||
| Registered voters/turnout | 2,867,557 | 51.61 | ||||||
| Source: Puerto Rico Election Archive | ||||||||
House of Representatives
| Party | At-large | District | Total seats | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | |||
| New Progressive Party | 705,753 | 48.57 | 6 | 750,840 | 50.22 | 28 | 34 | |
| Popular Democratic Party | 605,887 | 41.70 | 4 | 644,316 | 43.09 | 12 | 16 | |
| Puerto Rican Independence Party | 121,066 | 8.33 | 1 | 71,442 | 4.78 | 0 | 1 | |
| Working People's Party | 19,537 | 1.34 | 0 | 22,169 | 1.48 | 0 | 0 | |
| Other parties | 866 | 0.06 | 0 | 2,780 | 0.19 | 0 | 0 | |
| Independents | 3,697 | 0.25 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 1,453,109 | 100.00 | 11 | 1,495,244 | 100.00 | 40 | 51 | |
| Valid votes | 1,453,109 | 99.13 | 1,495,244 | 99.15 | ||||
| Invalid votes | 953 | 0.07 | 953 | 0.06 | ||||
| Blank votes | 11,872 | 0.81 | 11,872 | 0.79 | ||||
| Total votes | 1,465,934 | 100.00 | 1,508,069 | 100.00 | ||||
| Registered voters/turnout | 2,867,557 | 51.12 | 2,867,557 | 52.59 | ||||
| Source: Puerto Rico Election Archive | ||||||||
Mayors
Despite losing most of the Senate and the House, the Popular Democratic Party (PPD) managed to win a majority of the mayoralty races in the island, with a total of 45 out of 78 municipalities. The New Progressive Party (PNP) won a total of 33.[6]
| Party | Mayoralties | |
|---|---|---|
| Popular Democratic Party | 45 | |
| New Progressive Party | 33 | |
| Puerto Rican Independence Party | 0 | |
| Working People's Party | 0 | |
| Total | 78 | |
| Source: CEEPUR | ||
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