The 2008 Puerto Rico gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2008, as part of the Puerto Rican general elections. It coincided with the 2008 United States general elections. Then-incumbent governor

Aníbal Acevedo Vilá Aníbal Salvador Acevedo Vilá (born 13 February 1962) is a Puerto Rican politician and lawyer. He served as the governor of Puerto Rico from 2005 to 2009. He is a Harvard University alumnus (LL.M. 1987) and a graduate of the University of Puer ...

, Democratic, PPD was eligible for reelection, and ran for a second four-year term. His opponent,

Luis Fortuño Luis Guillermo Fortuño Burset (born 31 October 1960) is a Puerto Rican politician who served as the governor of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States, from 2009 to 2013. Fortuño served as the first secretary of econom ...

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

and PNP

Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico The resident commissioner of Puerto Rico () is a non-voting member of the United States House of Representatives elected by the voters of the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico every four years, the only member of the House of Representatives ...

, defeated him.

Candidates

Popular Democratic Party

Incumbent

( PPD/D) decided to run for a second four-year term. He faced a tough reelection campaign due to an

indictment An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a legal person, person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felony, felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concep ...

in March 2008 for alleged

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agree ...

to illegally raise money to pay off his

campaign Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed *Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme * Bl ...

debts in 2000 and the fallout from the 2006 Puerto Rico budget crisis.

New Progressive Party

On February 19, 2007, Incumbent Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico

announced his candidacy for

Governor of Puerto Rico The governor of Puerto Rico ( es, gobernador de Puerto Rico) is the head of government of the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and commander-in-chief of the Puerto Rico National Guard. The governor has a duty ...

for the 2008 general election and said he will not run for Congress. On May 18, 2007, Fortuño announced that former Attorney General

Pedro Pierluisi Pedro Rafael Pierluisi Urrutia (born April 26, 1959) is a Puerto Rican politician and lawyer currently serving as governor of Puerto Rico. He has previously served as Secretary of Justice, Resident Commissioner, acting Secretary of State, i ...

would be his running mate and run for Fortuño's current office of

. Pierluisi Urrutia was a classmate at Colegio Marista, a fellow member of the

Puerto Rico Statehood Students Association The Puerto Rico Statehood Students Association (PRSSA) es, Asociación de Estudiantes Estadistas de Puerto Rico is a Puerto Rican non-profit student organization dedicated to promoting statehood for Puerto Rico. It was founded in 1979, and re ...

and also a fellow cabinet member of Fortuño's during former Governor

Pedro Rosselló Pedro Juan Rosselló González, (; born April 5, 1944) is a Puerto Rican physician and politician who served as the governor of Puerto Rico from 1993 to 2001. He was President of the New Progressive Party from 1991 to 1999 and 2003 to 2008, a ...

's first term from 1993 to 1996. On March 7, 2007, Former Governor

stated that he was no longer interested in the Senate Presidency and is now focusing his attention in preventing Resident Commissioner

from winning the March 2008 gubernatorial primary, and has allowed his name to be placed in nomination for the party's gubernatorial primary. Senate President Kenneth McClintock and four other senators won in San Juan Superior Court a suit to nullify the sanctions and expulsions that the party leadership has levied against them. The Puerto Rico Supreme Court confirmed the lower court decision by a 5-to-1 vote. As a result, McClintock and his supporters are recognized as NPP members and free to run under the party banner. On March 9, 2008,

conceded the victory to

after a large margin of votes in favor of his opponent in the NPP party primaries for the presidency of the party and gubernatorial nomination. Rosselló admitted defeat even before the votes were completely tallied claiming Fortuño as the next candidate of the PNP party. In Rosselló's conceding speech he said ''"Luis Fortuño has been selected by the people to be the new president of this party and the candidate for governor. I always say the people speak and I obey, Fortuño here is your party and here is your office (signaling the party's official headquarters). Now its up to you, the loyal members of this party, to make sure that this new leadership works for the statehood for Puerto Rico"''.''Rosselló's concession speech (Spanish)''
March 9, 2008 After this conceding speech it was rumored and even announced at Fortuño's headquarters that the former Governor would arrive there along with his loyal supporter and mayor of the capital city of San Juan,

Jorge Santini Jorge Santini Padilla (born March 11, 1960) is a Puerto Rican politician who previously served as the mayor of San Juan. State Service In 1975, Santini became a member of the United States Marines Air Cadets Corps. At present, he is Lieuten ...

, but after Fortuño's followers waited for hours to see their leaders united neither Rosselló or Santini arrived. After the primary was over it was heavily rumored by many that Rosselló would not be campaigning for Fortuño and that he'd resign as senator to go back to his home in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. On March 10, 2008, Rosselló sent the

media Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass el ...

a written statement regarding his future in which he confirmed he will be retiring from active politics and will not be campaigning for any candidate, however he will finish his term as Senator for the

Arecibo Arecibo (; ) is a city and municipality on the northern coast of Puerto Rico, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, located north of Utuado and Ciales; east of Hatillo; and west of Barceloneta and Florida. It is about west of San Juan, th ...

District.

Puerto Ricans For Puerto Rico Party

This Party was a newcomer to the political scene and put forward Rogelio Figueroa as it candidate for governor. It campaigned as a no status party, similar to the PPD at its start.

Puerto Rico Independence Party

The party had failed to register in the former 2004 elections. A new face was selected to run, as Edwin Irrizary Mora was the gubernatorial candidate. It campaigned as the "radical" option for voters.

Election results

References

External links

Washington Post: Puerto Rican Governor Plans to Seek Reelection

UPI: Puerto Rico approves Acevedo candidacy

{{2008 U.S. elections

Gubernatorial election A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...