Rafael "June" Rivera Ortega (born November 10, 1969) 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 ...

affiliated with the New Progressive Party (PNP). He was a 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 Sen ...

from 2005 to 2021 representing

District 28 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 ...

Early years and studies

Rafael Rivera Ortega was born in

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the juri ...

on November 10, 1969. He began his primary studies at the Lomas Vallés School, and in 1988 graduated from his high school at the Santa Teresita Academy in Naranjito. June was always in trouble at school. One time he called school to announce that a bomb would be detonated, causing an emergency evacuation of Academia Santa Teresita. He was later discovered as the caller, along with several students and was punished to clean the school premises for a whole year. Rivera first completed an Associate degree in Information Systems. He then completed a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in Business Management, with a major in Marketing, from the

Interamerican University of Puerto Rico The Inter American University of Puerto Rico (Spanish: ''Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico''; often abbreviated to ''UIPR'' or ''Inter'') is a private Christian university with its main campus in San Germán, Puerto Rico. It also has c ...

Professional career

Since his years in college, Rivera worked as Sub-manager for Rivera's Commercial, Inc. in his hometown. He is also a former member of the Board of the Association of Retailers, Professionals, and Civic Leaders of Naranjito, and of the Chamber of Commerce of Puerto Rico.

Political career

Rivera began his political career with the New Progressive Party as a voting college employee, and then as both coordinator and president of electoral units. He also served as State Director of the PNP Youth. When he was 26 years old, Rivera became the youngest elected to the Municipal Assembly of Naranjito. Rivera was elected to the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico to represent District 28 at the 2004 general election. He was reelected in

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; ...

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 ...

and

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

. He lost to Juan José Santiago Nieves ( PPD) in the 2020 general election.

Personal life

Rivera has a daughter called Amaia Kamilah Rivera Morales.

References

External links

Official website and biographyRafael Rivera Ortega Profile
on

WAPA-TV WAPA-TV (channel 4) is a Spanish-language independent television station in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It is owned by Hemisphere Media Group, which is 84% owned by InterMedia Partners. WAPA-TV's studios are located on Avenida Luis Vigoreaux in G ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rivera, June Living people 1969 births Interamerican University of Puerto Rico alumni New Progressive Party members of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico Politicians from San Juan, Puerto Rico