Luis Negrón López (April 19, 1909 - September 18, 1991) was a

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 ...

from

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 ...

. Negrón was among the founding members of the Popular Democratic Party ''(PPD)'' and served as Senator and as candidate for Governor of Puerto Rico in the elections of 1968.

Early life and education

Negrón López was born Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico in 1909. He graduated from the University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras in 1932. Two years later he received his law degree and dedicated himself to private practice until 1948.

Political career

In 1940, he helped

Luis Muñoz Marín José Luis Alberto Muñoz Marín (February 18, 1898April 30, 1980) was a Puerto Rican journalist, politician, statesman and was the first elected governor of Puerto Rico, regarded as the "Architect of the Puerto Rico Commonwealth." In 1948 he ...

and others in the creation of the Popular Democratic Party. In the elections of that year, Negrón was elected Representative to the Puerto Rican Legislature. In the elections of 1944, Negrón is then elected to Senate of Puerto Rico. He worked closely with then Senate President Muñoz Marín in the implementation of legislation that eventually became the ground work of

Operation Bootstrap Operation Bootstrap ( es, Operación Manos a la Obra) is the name given to a series of projects which transformed the economy of Puerto Rico into an industrial and developed one. The federal government of the United States together with what i ...

. Negrón López was among the members of the Constitutional Assembly that in 1952 drafted the

Constitution of Puerto Rico The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, Constitución del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico) is the controlling government document of Puerto Rico. It is composed of nine articles detailing the structure of the government a ...

. After that, Negrón continued to serve in the Senate, a post that he held until 1968. That year, incumbent Governor

Roberto Sánchez Vilella Roberto Sánchez Vilella (19 February 1913 – 24 March 1997) was the governor of Puerto Rico from 1965 to 1969. Sánchez Vilella successfully ran for governor in the 1964 elections for the '' Partido Popular Democrático''. He is also the fou ...

had a serious dispute with the leaders of the PPD and was barred from seeking a second term as Governor under the party's insignia. Negrón was then chosen as the new candidate for Governor of Puerto Rico. However, Governor Sánchez had founded a new party, the ''People's Party'', and was also seeking reelection. This caused a division inside the ''PPD'' that caused the defeat of both Sánchez and Negrón. Instead, Luis A. Ferré of the New Progressive Party was elected Governor. This was the first electoral defeat ever for the PPD.

Later and death

After the elections of 1968, Negrón retired from public life. Negrón López died on September 18, 1991, when he was 82 years old. He was buried at the

Sabana Grande Masonic Cemetery The Sabana Grande Masonic Cemetery ( es, Cementerio Masónico de Sabana Grande), known formally as ''Cementerio Masónico de la Resp. Logia Igualdad Núm. 23 de Sabana Grande'' ( en, Masonic Cemetery of the Respectable Equality Lodge Number 23 of ...

in Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico. The town of Sabana Grande named the high school after him.

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Negron Lopez, Luis 1909 births 1991 deaths 20th-century American politicians Members of the Senate of Puerto Rico People from Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico Presidents pro tempore of the Senate of Puerto Rico Popular Democratic Party members of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico Popular Democratic Party (Puerto Rico) politicians University of Puerto Rico alumni