The 2012 Puerto Rico gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 2012, to elect the

Governor 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 ...

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 ...

. The incumbent PNP Governor

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 ...

and Resident Commissioner

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 ...

ran for a second term during this election. Their major challengers were the PPD nominee and current Senator

Alejandro García Padilla Alejandro Javier García Padilla (; born August 3, 1971) is a Puerto Rican politician and attorney who served as the governor of Puerto Rico from 2013 to 2017. Prior to this position, García Padilla held various roles in the political la ...

and his running mate,

Rafael Cox Alomar Rafael Cox Alomar (born December 30, 1974) is a Puerto Rican lawyer, professor of law, author and 2012 candidate for Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico. Early life Cox Alomar was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico on 30 December 1974 to Noemí A ...

. The election also featured four minor party candidates, being the second time in 40 years with six candidates for governor. In the morning of November 7, 2012, Fortuño conceded the election to Alejandro García Padilla, just as the last votes were being counted. However, Pierluisi retained his position as Resident Commissioner by defeating Cox Alomar. With a margin of 0.6%, this election was the closest race of the 2012 gubernatorial election cycle.

Candidates

New Progressive Party

Incumbent Governor of Puerto Rico,

, announced his candidacy for reelection in October 2011. Former Secretary of Health,

Iván González Cancel Iván F. González Cancel is a cardiovascular and heart transplant surgeon credited for having performed the first heart transplant surgery in Puerto Rico. Early life He was born in 1960 in municipality of Utuado, Puerto Rico. He lived in Utua ...

, challenged him to a primary, but the court ruled it out.

Popular Democratic Party

Current senator

, announced his candidacy in March 2011.

Puerto Rican Independence Party

Former Electoral Commissioner

Juan Dalmau Ramírez Juan Manuel Dalmau Ramírez (born July 23, 1973) is a Puerto Rican politician, attorney and a former candidate for Governor of Puerto Rico for the Puerto Rican Independence Party.

Puerto Ricans for Puerto Rico

Rogelio Figueroa Rogelio Figueroa García (born September 13, 1963 in Naguabo, Puerto Rico) is a Puerto Rican engineer and politician. He is the president and co-founder of the Puerto Ricans for Puerto Rico (PPR) party, and served as their gubernatorial candidate ...

is the candidate for governor for the PPR party.

Movimiento Unión Soberanista

The MUS had chosen Dr. Enrique Vázquez Quintana as candidate for governor. However, in August 2012, Vázquez Quintana withdrew from the candidacy. A week later, he was replaced by Attorney Arturo Hernández, who was formerly president of the

Puerto Rico Bar Association The Bar Association of Puerto Rico (BAPR) or ''Colegio de Abogados de Puerto Rico (CAPR)'' is the bar association of Puerto Rico. It is the oldest professional association in Puerto Rico, and among the oldest bar associations in the world. The ...

. Hernández was already a candidate for the

Senate of Puerto Rico The Senate of Puerto Rico ( es, Senado de Puerto Rico) is the upper house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The Senate, together with the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico, control t ...

Working People's Party

Professor Rafael Bernabe was announced as the gubernatorial candidate for the PPT in June 2012.

General election campaign

The campaign of the main opposing party, the Popular Democratic Party (PPD), focused mostly on the problems of

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Ca ...

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work during the refere ...

, and high utility costs, attributing them to the failure of the incumbent Governor,

, from the New Progressive Party (PNP). The PNP, on the other hand, focused mostly on the lack of experience of the PPD candidate,

. The minority parties have directed their campaign at the inability of the main two parties to administer the country. The

Puerto Ricans for Puerto Rico Party The Puerto Ricans for Puerto Rico Party ( es, Partido Puertorriqueños por Puerto Rico, PPPR) was a Puerto Rican political party. Founded in 2003, it was certified for the first time by the State Electoral Commission in May 2007. History In ...

(PPR) attacked the alleged

classism Class discrimination, also known as classism, is prejudice or discrimination on the basis of social class. It includes individual attitudes, behaviors, systems of policies and practices that are set up to benefit the upper class at the expense ...

and

social inequality Social inequality occurs when resources in a given society are distributed unevenly, typically through norms of allocation, that engender specific patterns along lines of socially defined categories of persons. It posses and creates gender c ...

of the current government, while the

Working People's Party of Puerto Rico The Working People's Party ( es, Partido del Pueblo Trabajador or PPT) was a Puerto Rican political party. It was founded on December 5, 2010, in the city of San Juan, Puerto Rico, by a group of activists, students, teachers, professors, union ...

(PPT) advocated for a government more attuned to the

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colo ...

Debates

There were two official debates celebrated with all

gubernatorial 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 ...

candidates. The first one was held on September 11, 2012 under the title of "Vota o Quédate Calla'o" ("Vote or Keep your Mouth Shut"). It was transmitted by the television network of Sistema Universitario Ana G. Méndez. The second debate was held on October 25, 2012 under the title of "El Gran Debate". This debate was transmitted by

Telemundo Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a division of NBCUniversal, which in turn is owned by Comcast. It provides content nationally with pr ...

and had the best TV ratings for the night with 18.7 and a 27.3% share.

Election results

References

{{Puerto Rican 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 ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...