2008 New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico primaries

New Progressive Party primaries, 2008

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March 9, 2008

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Nominee	Luis Fortuño	Pedro Rosselló
Party	New Progressive	New Progressive
Alliance	Republican	Democratic
Popular vote	445,026	306,590
Percentage	59.21%	40.79%

New Progressive Party results for Governor. Light blue denotes a Fortuño win and navy blue a Rosselló win.

Previous PNP Governor candidate

Pedro Rosselló

PNP Governor candidate-elect

Luis Fortuño

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v t e

The 2008 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, namely the position of governor, for the 2008 general elections. Resident Commissioner Luis Fortuño was selected as the nominee at the primary elections held on March 9, 2008. He would go on to win the 2008 general election as well.

Background

Pedro Rosselló had come from a defeat against Aníbal Acevedo Vilá at the 2004 elections. Despite that, he managed to gain a seat in the Senate. After an unsuccessful power struggle within the Senate to gain the presidency of the body, it was speculated that Rosselló would make another attempt at being elected Governor for the 2008 elections.

The power struggle had caused a division within the party, with the faction that supported Senate President Kenneth McClintock (called the "Auténticos") being expelled from the party during the previous year. Although the Supreme Court allowed them to run in the PNP primaries, Pedro Rosselló, then President of the party, still vouched for a "vote of punishment" against the senators, which he called "traitors".

Candidates

Governor

Luis Fortuño, incumbent Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico
Pedro Rosselló, incumbent Senator and former Governor of Puerto Rico

Resident Commissioner

Pedro Pierluisi, former Secretary of Justice
Charlie Rodríguez, former President of the Senate of Puerto Rico
Miriam Ramírez de Ferrer, former Senator

Senate

At-large

Wanda Aponte
Lucy Arce
Luis Batista Salas
Cristóbal Berríos
Norma Burgos
Luis Oscar Casillas
Jorge de Castro Font
Manuel de Jesús
José Garriga Picó
Roger Iglesias
Tito Maldonado
Roberto Carlos Mejill

Henry Neumann
Margarita Nolasco
Reynaldo Paniagua
Itzamar Peña
Abid Quiñones
Oreste Ramos
Santos Ramos Lugo
Thomas Rivera Schatz
Orlando José Rivera Sepúlveda
Luz M. "Tuty" Silva
William Villafañe

District

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

San Juan

Bayamón

Felix H. Delgado
Héctor "Cano" O'Neill
Pedro Orraca
Migdalia Padilla
Carmelo Ríos Santiago
Edwin Rivera
Noel Toro

Arecibo

José Emilio González Velázquez
Anthony López
Johnny Maldonado
Víctor "Buhito" Marrero
Angel Martínez Santiago
Roger Owens
Gabriel Félix Rivera
Alexis Valle

Mayagüez-Aguadilla

Luis Daniel Muñiz Cortes
Michael Nazario
Carlos Pagán
Jorge Rodríguez Feliciano
Evelyn Vázquez

Ponce

María Alvarado
Luis A. Berdiel Rivera
Juan Luis "Cuto" Colón
Benny A. Morales
Ramoncito Ramos
Larry Seilhamer
Luinel Torres Acosta

Guayama

Osvaldo Colón Reyes
Paco Fontánez
Miguelito Martínez
"Vi" Negrón
Osvaldo Ortolaza Figueroa
Luisito Pagán
Robert Santiago
Antonio Soto Díaz
Carlos J. Torres Torres

Humacao

Juan B.
José R. Díaz Hernández
Francisco "Paco" Pereira
Luz M. Santiago González
Rafi Uceta

Carolina

Haydee Calderón Muñoz
Héctor Martínez Maldonado
Rosemary O'Connell
Pablo Ramos
Lornna Soto
Nayda Venegas

House of Representatives

At-large

José Aponte
José Chico
Angel Cortés
Italo Costa Corsi
Rolando Crespo
Jenniffer González
Jaime Irizarry
Julio Lebrón Lamboy

Aixa Martinó
Nicolás Muñoz
Lourdes Ramos
Iris Miriam Ruíz
Soraya
José "Pichy" Torres Zamora
Félix Vega Fournier

District

The Popular Democratic Party held primaries on 30 of the 40 representative districts.

District 1

Gloria Escudero
Mario González La Fuente
José "Nuno" López

District 4

Liza Fernández
Nelson A. Rivera

District 5

Luisito Fuentes
Jorge Navarro Suárez

District 6

Javier Capestany Figueroa
Angel Pérez Otero

District 8

Toñito Silva
Mario Tevenal

District 9

Pito Marrero
Angel "Gary" Rodríguez
Rafy Rodríguez
Juan "Papo" Soto

District 10

District 11

Frank Acha
Víctor "Pío" Concepción
Miguel Angel Figueroa
Jean P. Rubio
María Vega Pagán

District 14

Charlie Ayala
Wilson Pantoja
Gustavo Rodríguez
Paula Rodríguez Homs
Yamill

District 15

Arnaldo Jiménez Valle
Efraín Concepción
Rey Escoriaza
Nino Román

District 16

Elisa Juarbe Beníquez
Iván Rodríguez
Miguel Trabal

District 17

Rafael Lugo Hernández
José L. Rivera Guerra
Junior Robledo
William

District 18

District 20

Norman Ramírez Rivera
Lucy Rivera

District 21

Noel Morales, Jr.
Rey

District 22

Héctor Luis "Tito" Camacho
Jorge Collazo
Waldemar Quiles

District 23

Luis Edgardo Díaz
Julissa Nolasco
Gaddier Oliveras
Hernán Santiago

District 24

John Giménez
Luis "Tato" León

District 26

Emilio
José Luis Jiménez
Freddy Santiago

District 28

Carmen Gloria Hernández
Rafael Rivera Ortega
Jorge Santini

District 31

Edgar Acevedo
Junior Aponte
Roberto López
Jorge L. Reyes

District 32

José R. Camino
Shirley Ann Casillas
Magal González

District 33

Willy Gómez
Angel R. Peña, Jr.
Amparo Rodríguez
Raúl Rodríguez

District 34

Cristóbal Colón
Pickie Díaz
Lorenzo Valcárcel, Jr.

District 35

Julio César
Noé Marcano

District 36

Johnny Méndez
Augusto Sánchez

District 37

Angel Bulerín
William Cantres Nieves
Normis Quintero

District 38

Eric Correa
Joel Cruz Hiraldo
Wilfredo Pérez Torres
Raymond Sánchez

District 39

Sergio Esteves
Esther
César Valentín

District 40

Elizabeth Casado
Francisco, Jr.

Mayors

The New Progressive Party held primaries in 34 of 78 municipalities.

Aguada

"Berty" Echevarría
Manuel Santiago
Lorenzo Vale, Jr.

Aguas Buenas

Miguel
Edwin Morales
Vitín Ramos

Arecibo

Carlos Molina
Angel "Kuko" Ramos
Lemuel Soto

Arroyo

Darwin Covas
Basilio Figueroa
Ramón Morales

Caguas

Orlando Rivera
Carlos González

Camuy

Edwin García Feliciano
Johnny

Canóvanas

Roberto Cruz
Manuel Quiñones
José "Chemo" Soto

Cataño

Julio Alicea
Mayra Ramsamy
Wilson Soto
Yareco

Cayey

Wilson Colón
Benjamín González

Ceiba

Corozal

Roberto Hernández Vélez
Norberto Torres

Florida

Aaron Pargas Ojeda
Víctor M. Rodríguez

Guaynabo

Héctor O'Neill
Miguel Gutarra

Humacao

"Piloto" Santiago
Maritza Vargas

Juana Díaz

Gardy Guzmán
Nilsa Santiago

Juncos

Junito Mulero
Karen Velázquez

Lajas

Leo Cotte
Edgardo
Johnny Ramos

Lares

Roberto Pagán Centeno
Eddie Nuñez

Las Piedras

Micky López
Angel R. Peña

Loíza

Luis Ambrosio de Jesús
Eddie Manso

Quebradillas

Moisés Soto
Elías Nieves

Rincón

María Lourdes Méndez
Eddie Ríos

Río Grande

César
María Milagros Charbonier
Javier Sánchez

Sabana Grande

Wilfrido Bonilla
Santitos Rivera
Linnette Toledo

Salinas

Ernesto Aponte
Jorgito Díaz
Carlos Rodríguez Mateo

San Germán

Mónica Alpi
Luis Cancel
Efraín Montalvo
Edgardo Suárez

San Sebastián

Javier Jiménez
Justo Medina

Toa Alta

Luis Collazo Rivera
Nelson
Evelyn Ortega

Trujillo Alto

Julio Andino
Emmanuel Huertas
Eduardo Otero

Utuado

Results

The primaries were held on March 9, 2008. In it, Fortuño comfortably defeated Rosselló to win the spot for Governor at the 2008 elections. Also, Pedro Pierluisi defeated Charlie Rodríguez and Miriam Ramírez de Ferrer with 60% of the votes to win the spot for Resident Commissioner.

Governor

	Popular vote	Percentage
Luis Fortuño	445,026	59.21%
Pedro Rosselló	306,590	40.79%
Others	49	0.01%

Resident Commissioner

	Popular vote	Percentage
Pedro Pierluisi	440,672	59.59%
Charlie Rodríguez	248,127	33.56%
Miriam Ramírez de Ferrer	50,590	6.84%
Others	64	0.01%

Senate

At-large

	Popular vote	Percentage
Norma Burgos	421,139	11.37%
Thomas Rivera Schatz	410,474	11.08%
Margarita Nolasco	307,723	8.31%
Jorge de Castro Font	278,733	7.53%
Lucy Arce	228,360	6.17%
Itzamar Peña Ramírez	219,524	5.93
Henry Neumann	208,535	5.63%
Oreste Ramos	203,051	5.48%
Abid Quiñones	179,890	4.86%
José Garriga Picó	169,485	4.58%
William Villafañe	162,918	4.40%
Reynaldo Paniagua	144,668	3.91%
Luis Batista Salas	102,479	2.77%
Tito Maldonado	93,097	2.51%
Roger Iglesias	85,859	2.32%
Wanda Aponte	85,115	2.30%
Cristóbal Berríos	77,053	2.08%
Roberto Carlos Mejill	69,036	1.86%
Luz M. "Tuty" Silva	64,171	1.73%
Orlando José Rivera Sepúlveda	59,311	1.60%
Manuel de Jesús	51,594	1.39%
Santos Ramos Lugo	50,373	1.36%
Luis Oscar Casillas González	29,253	0.79%
Others	1,382	0.04%

District

San Juan

	Popular vote	Percentage
Roberto Arango	42,191	29.17%
Kimmey Raschke	35,193	24.34%
Carlos Díaz	33,431	23.12%
Edward Moreno	26,044	18.01%
Omar Miranda Torres	7,632	5.28%
Others	126	0.09%

Bayamón

	Popular vote	Percentage
Migdalia Padilla	43,364	24.21%
Carmelo Ríos	39,518	22.07
Héctor "Cano" O'Neill	32,336	18.06%
Felix H. Delgado	23,120	12.91%
Pedro Orraca	16,299	9.10%
Edwin Rivera Rodríguez	13,068	7.30%
Noel Toro	11,273	6.29%
Others	118	0.07%

Arecibo

	Popular vote	Percentage
José E. González	33,788	20.63%
Angel Martínez	26,304	16.06
Johnny Maldonado	24,978	15.25%
Alexis Valle	23,866	14.57%
Anthony López	21,587	13.18%
Gabriel Félix Rivera	12,717	7.77%
Víctor "Buhito" Marrero	11,503	7.02%
Roger Owens	8,959	5.47%
Others	53	0.03%

Mayagüez-Aguadilla

	Popular vote	Percentage
Luis Daniel Muñiz	50,010	29.92%
Evelyn Vázquez	36,581	21.89%
Carlos Pagán	35,959	21.52%
Michael Nazario	22,569	13.50%
Jorge Rodríguez	21,954	13.14%
Others	56	0.03%

Ponce

	Popular vote	Percentage
Larry Seilhamer	33,717	24.71%
Luis Berdiel	25,497	18.69
Luinel Torres Acosta	23,754	17.41%
Juan Luis Colón	17,330	12.70%
Ramoncito Ramos	15,440	11.32%
María Alvarado	14,387	10.54%
Benny A. Morales	6,247	4.58%
Others	81	0.06%

Guayama

	Popular vote	Percentage
Antonio Soto Díaz	29,473	18.27%
Carlos J. Torres	23,863	14.79
Luisito Pagán	22,288	13.82%
Paco Fontánez	19,686	12.20%
Miguelito Martínez	19,318	11.97%
Osvaldo Ortolaza	18,057	11.19%
"Vi" Negrón	14,294	8.86%
Osvaldo Colón	9,335	5.79%
Robert Santiago	4,957	3.07%
Others	51	0.03%

Humacao

	Popular vote	Percentage
Luz M. Santiago	36,234	24.39%
José Ramón Díaz	36,211	24.37%
Rafi Uceta	33,872	22.80%
Juan B.	25,449	17.13%
Francisco Pereira	16,716	11.25%
Others	97	0.07%

Carolina

	Popular vote	Percentage
Héctor Martínez	41,216	28.51%
Lornna Soto	39,965	27.64
Haydee Calderón	16,312	11.28%
Pablo Ramos	15,964	11.04%
Nayda Venegas	15,956	11.04%
Rosemary O'Connell	15,145	10.47%
Others	25	0.02%

House of Representatives

At-large

	Popular vote	Percentage
Jenniffer González	404,852	11.24%
Iris Miriam Ruíz	370,123	10.27%
Lourdes Ramos	354,358	9.84%
José Aponte	343,915	9.55%
Rolando Crespo	280,263	7.78%
José Chico	275,371	7.64
Jaime Irizarry	254,626	7.07%
Nicolás Muñoz	246,449	6.84%
Félix Vega Fournier	206,695	5.74%
Soraya	194,496	5.40%
Angel Cortés	184,346	5.12%
José Torres Zamora	163,159	4.53%
Aixa Martinó	157,830	4.38%
Julio Lebrón Lamboy	124,520	3.46%
Italo Costa Corsi	41,308	1.15%
Others	233	0.01%

District

District 1

	Popular vote	Percentage
José "Nuno" López	7,019	45.68%
Gloria Escudero	4,245	27.63%
Mario González	4,073	26.51%
Others	29	0.19%

District 4

	Popular vote	Percentage
Liza Fernández	12,960	82.98%
Nelson A. Rivera	2,628	16.83%
Others	30	0.19%

District 5

	Popular vote	Percentage
Jorge Navarro	13,136	67.59%
Luisito Fuentes	6,285	32.34%
Others	14	0.07%

District 6

	Popular vote	Percentage
Angel Pérez	12,439	53.53%
Javier Capestany	10,788	46.42%
Others	12	0.05%

District 8

	Popular vote	Percentage
Antonio Silva	11,523	60.03%
Mario Tevenal	7,670	39.95%
Others	4	0.02%

District 10

	Popular vote	Percentage
Bernardo Márquez	10,488	51.50%
Pedro J. Santiago	8,979	44.09%
Víctor Soto, Jr.	891	4.38%
Others	7	0.03%

District 11

	Popular vote	Percentage
María Vega	3,742	24.10%
Frank Acha	3,467	22.33%
Víctor Concepción	3,100	19.96%
Miguel Angel Figueroa	2,956	19.04%
Jean P. Rubio	2,259	14.55%
Others	4	0.03%

District 14

	Popular vote	Percentage
Paula Rodríguez	6,548	34.74%
Yamill	4,689	24.87%
Gustavo Rodríguez	4,561	24.20%
Wilson Pantoja	2,097	11.12%
Charlie Ayala	956	5.07%
Others	0	0.00%

District 15

	Popular vote	Percentage
Arnaldo Jiménez	6,245	30.24%
Efraín Concepción	5,612	27.17%
Nino Román	4,792	23.20%
Rey Escoriaza	3,998	19.36%
Others	6	0.03%

District 16

	Popular vote	Percentage
Iván Rodríguez	9,820	43.13%
Miguel Trabal	8,063	35.41%
Elisa Juarbe	4,878	21.42%
Others	9	0.04%

District 17

	Popular vote	Percentage
José L. Rivera	12,701	60.64%
Junior Robledo	3,791	18.10%
William	2,495	11.91%
Rafael Lugo	1,953	9.32%
Others	4	0.02%

District 18

	Popular vote	Percentage
David Bonilla	12,923	53.18%
Angel Muñoz	11,345	46.69%
Others	32	0.13%

District 20

	Popular vote	Percentage
Norman Ramírez	9,138	54.46%
Lucy Rivera	7,631	45.48%
Others	10	0.06%

District 21

	Popular vote	Percentage
Noel Morales	8,880	58.68%
Rey	6,244	41.26%
Others	10	0.07%

District 23

	Popular vote	Percentage
Julissa Nolasco	7,924	49.44%
Gaddier Oliveras	4,363	27.22%
Hernán Santiago	2,274	14.19%
Luis Edgardo Díaz	1,417	8.84%
Others	51	0.32%

District 24

	Popular vote	Percentage
Luis "Tato" León	9,465	70.84%
John Giménez	3,891	29.12%
Others	5	0.04%

District 26

	Popular vote	Percentage
José Luis Jiménez	9,290	48.14%
Freddy Santiago	9,109	47.21%
Emilio	897	4.65%
Others	0	0.00%

District 28

	Popular vote	Percentage
Rafael Rivera	14,209	60.66%
Carmen Hernández	6,429	27.45%
Jorge Santini	2,781	11.87%
Others	6	0.03%

District 31

	Popular vote	Percentage
Junior Aponte	7,498	44.91%
Roberto López	5,793	34.70%
Edgar Acevedo	2,045	12.25%
Jorge L. Reyes	1,347	8.07%
Others	13	0.08%

District 32

	Popular vote	Percentage
José R. Camino	8,038	54.65%
Shirley Ann Casillas	3,707	25.20%
Magal González	2,954	20.08%
Others	9	0.06%

District 33

	Popular vote	Percentage
Angel Peña, Jr.	10,707	53.36%
Raúl Rodríguez	3,773	18.80%
Willy Gómez	2,922	14.56%
Amparo Rodríguez	2,582	12.87%
Others	81	0.40%

District 34

	Popular vote	Percentage
Cristóbal Colón	11,676	58.19%
Pickie Díaz	7,267	36.22%
Lorenzo Valcárcel, Jr.	1,120	5.58%
Others	3	0.01%

District 35

	Popular vote	Percentage
Julio César	8,367	51.95%
Noé Marcano	7,724	47.96%
Others	14	0.09%

District 36

	Popular vote	Percentage
Johnny Méndez	10,666	70.68%
Augusto Sánchez	4,411	29.23%
Others	13	0.09%

District 37

	Popular vote	Percentage
Angel Bulerín	9,197	50.51%
Normis Quintero	7,591	41.69%
William Cantres	1,421	7.80%
Others	1	0.01%

District 38

	Popular vote	Percentage
Eric Correa	5,688	36.64%
Joel Cruz Hiraldo	4,622	29.78%
Raymond Sánchez	4,239	27.31%
Wilfredo Pérez	960	6.18%
Others	13	0.08%

District 39

	Popular vote	Percentage
Sergio Esteves	5,821	40.47%
Esther	4,491	31.22%
César Valentín	4,056	28.20%
Others	15	0.10%

District 40

	Popular vote	Percentage
Elizabeth Casado	10,931	73.14%
Francisco, Jr.	4,001	26.77%
Others	14	0.09%

Aftermath

Members of PPD voting

During and after the primaries, members of the New Progressive Party (PNP), like Senator Norma Burgos, claimed they saw voters affiliated with the opposing Popular Democratic Party (PPD) voting in the PNP ballots. Also, Maritza Vázquez, Electoral Commissioner of PPD representative Conny Varela, admitted in 2010 that "thousands of 'populares' voted on that election'". Some of the supporters of Rosselló maintain that this "crossover" was crucial in Pedro Rosselló's defeat against Luis Fortuño.

Rosselló "Write-In" campaign

As a result of Rosselló's loss in the primaries, a group of his supporters started a campaign to have him elected through "Write-in" voting.

The fate of the "Auténticos"

Despite Rosselló's call for a "vote of punishment" against the "Auténticos", all but one of the eligible candidates from that faction were elected in the primaries. Carlos Díaz was edged out of the election race by Senators Roberto Arango and Kimmey Raschke. Migdalia Padilla, Lucy Arce, and Jorge de Castro Font were all elected. Kenneth McClintock had decided not to run for Senate, while Orlando Parga refused to return to the party after his expulsion, and started an independent campaign.

References

Apuesta Rosselló al voto de castigo on El Nuevo Día (January 3, 2008)
Primarias 2008: Escrutinio General - Gobernador Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine on CEEPUR
Primarias 2008: Escrutinio General - Comisionado Residente Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine on CEEPUR
Gobernador da las gracias por rechazo a Rosselló on NoticiasOnline; Banuchi, Rebecca (3/10/2008)
Conny usará ejército de abogados para que estadistas voten on El Nuevo Día (August 5, 2010)

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