Carlos M. "Charlie" Hernández López (born February 19, 1965) is a Puerto Rican

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

affiliated with the Popular Democratic Party (PPD). He was member of the

Puerto Rico House of Representatives The House of Representatives of Puerto Rico ( es, Cámara de Representantes de Puerto Rico) is the lower house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the bicameral territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The House, together with the Senat ...

from January, 2001 until December, 2016. From 2001 to 2012 he represented

District 19 A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

(which includes the cities of Mayagüez and San Germán). In 2012, he was reelected, this time as a Representative At-large until 2016. After his retirement from politics in 2016, he reopened his law firm and became a professor at the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico.

Early years and studies

Charlie Hernández was born February 19, 1965 in Mayagüez. During his childhood, he was part of the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded i ...

. After graduating high school, Hernández was admitted to the

University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez The University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus (UPRM) or Recinto Universitario de Mayagüez (RUM) in Spanish (also referred to as Colegio and CAAM in allusion to its former name), is a public land-grant university in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. UPRM ...

. During his time there, he was part of the Student Council and the Academic Senate. He was also founder and director of the student newspaper ''Campus Colegial''. Because of his academic excellence, he received the award for the Most Distinguished Student of the Department of Social Sciences in 1986. He was also part of the

Honor roll An honors student or honor student is a student recognized for achieving high grades or high marks in their coursework at school. United States In the US, honors students may refer to: # Students recognized for their academic achievement on list ...

during the three years in which he finished his bachelor's degree in Politocal Science. After participating in the summer internship of the

Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs The Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (formerly the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs) is a professional public policy school at Princeton University. The school provides an array of comprehensive course ...

of the

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

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, Hernández received a scholarship to continue postgraduate studies in Public Administration sponsored by the

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is an American philanthropic nonprofit organization. It was established in 1934 by Alfred P. Sloan Jr., then-president and chief executive officer of General Motors. The Sloan Foundation makes grants to support or ...

, the

Woodrow Wilson Foundation The Woodrow Wilson Foundation was an educational non-profit created in 1921, organized under the laws of New York, for the "perpetuation of Wilson's ideals" via periodic grants to worthy groups and individuals. Franklin D. Roosevelt was the chai ...

, and then the

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. After graduating with honors from the Faculty of Law of the University of Puerto Rico, he continued his studies, obtaining a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in Public Administration from the

Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs The Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs (or LBJ School of Public Affairs) is a graduate school at the University of Texas at Austin that was founded in 1970 to offer training in public policy analysis and administration for students that ar ...

of the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

. During those years, he realized investigations about the health service and political parties in

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, which were eventually published. He also completed a thesis about the Territories of

Micronesia Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of about 2,000 small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: the Philippines to the west, Polynesia to the east, and ...

and the territorial policy of the United States.

Professional career

After returning to Puerto Rico, Hernández practiced law specializing in civil litigation and constitutional rights. In January, 2000, he was appointed as an Assistant to the mayor of the Municipality of Mayagüez in charge of community development.

Political career

Hernández was first elected to the

House of Representatives of Puerto Rico The House of Representatives of Puerto Rico ( es, Cámara de Representantes de Puerto Rico) is the lower house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the bicameral state legislature (United States), territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. ...

at the 2000 general election, representing District 19. During his first term, he was Chairman of the Judiciary the Committee and Special Committee of the Revision of the Civil Code. He was also a member of the Committees of Federal and International Affairs, Government, Capital Development, and others. In

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, Hernández was reelected. During that time, he served as Minority Speaker for his party in several committees as well as being member of others. After being reelected for a third term at the 2008 general election, Hernández again served as Minority Speaker of his party in several committees. In 2012, Hernández decided to run as a Representative At-large at the 2012 general election. He was elected, being the third candidate with most votes from his party. After that, Hernández was appointed as

Majority Leader In U.S. politics (as well as in some other countries utilizing the presidential system), the majority floor leader is a partisan position in a legislative body.

for his party. After concluding his mandate in 2016, and after sixteen years in office, Hernández decided to retire from politics. Since, he returned to practice law with offices in San Juan and Mayagüez concentrating in civil litigation and constitutional law. In addition, Hernández became a professor in the graduate program in Public Affairs at the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico.

Personal life

Hernández was married to journalist Damaris Suárez for approximately ten years. They have a son together (Diego Hernández Suárez). In December 2012, they both announced they were getting divorced. In 2018, he married Farrah M Rodríguez.

References

, -

External links

Charlie Hernández Official biographyCharlie Hernández Profile
on

WAPA-TV WAPA-TV (channel 4) is a Spanish language in the United States, Spanish-language Independent station (North America), independent television station in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It is owned by :es:Hemisphere Media Group, Hemisphere Media Group, w ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hernandez, Charlie Living people 1965 births Popular Democratic Party members of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico People from Mayagüez, Puerto Rico University of Puerto Rico alumni Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs alumni