Leonides "Leo" Díaz Urbina (born October 6, 1962) is a Puerto Rican lawyer and

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 ...

who served as a

legislator A legislator (also known as a deputy or lawmaker) is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are often elected by the people of the state. Legislatures may be supra-national (for ex ...

in the 24th and 25th House of Representatives of Puerto Rico, and as

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of the

New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico The New Progressive Party ( es, Partido Nuevo Progresista, PNP) is a political party in Puerto Rico that advocates statehood. The PNP is one of the two major parties in Puerto Rico with significant political strength and currently holds both ...

(PNP) in 2001. Diaz, was candidate for mayor of San Juan in 2016.

Biography

Díaz Urbina was born in San Juan,

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 ...

, where his father, Leonides Díaz, was the owner of a grocer's shop and his mother, Gilberta Urbina Guzmán, a

housewife A housewife (also known as a homemaker or a stay-at-home mother/mom/mum) is a woman whose role is running or managing her family's home—housekeeping, which includes caring for her children; cleaning and maintaining the home; making, buying an ...

. He has 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 ...

social sciences Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of so ...

with a minor in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

from the

University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

and a juris doctor from the

University of Puerto Rico School of Law The University of Puerto Rico School of Law is a law school in Puerto Rico. It is one of the professional graduate schools of University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus and the only law school in the University of Puerto Rico System. It ...

. In 1987, he was elected president of the National Association of Law Students, Rio Piedras Chapter. He was also elected as president of the student council for the University of Puerto Rico School of Law. In 1990, he was elected as municipal legislator for the municipal legislative assembly of San Juan, as president of the

for the representative district III of San Juan, and as president of the Republican Party for the same district. In 1992, he was elected as a

Representative Representative may refer to: Politics * Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a group of people * House of Representatives, legislative body in various countries or sub-national entities * Legislator, som ...

for the same district in the 1992 general election. He was sworn on January 11, 1993, effectively becoming an official member of the 24th House of Representatives of Puerto Rico. As a member of the 24th House, Díaz Urbina presided the Commission of the Civil and Judiciary (now simply called the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico Commission of the Judiciary, Commission of the Judiciary) and the Commission for the Development of San Juan (now called the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico Commission on Integrated Development of the Capital City, Commission on Integrated Development of the Capital City). In 1996, he was elected as a representative at-large in the 1996 general election. He was sworn on January 13, 1997, effectively becoming an official member of the 25th House of Representatives of Puerto Rico. In 1999, he decided to no longer run for the House of Representatives but publicly supported and campaigned for

Carlos Pesquera Carlos Ignacio Pesquera-Morales (born August 17, 1956) is a Puerto Rican civil engineer. He ran in the 2016 New Progressive Party primary to be Puerto Rico's Resident Commissioner as Pedro Pierluisi's ballot running mate, but lost by over 70% of ...

, then gubernatorial candidate for the New Progressive Party. In 2001, after Pesquera lost, he was elected President of the New Progressive Party, although he was later succeeded by Pesquera, who was one of the NPP candidates in the 2004 elections. Diaz, was candidate for mayor of San Juan in 2016.

Personal life

Díaz Urbina married Zulma Ivelisse Fuster Troche, a prosecutor for the district of San Juan, in 1997. They have three children, Leonides Sebastián (born in 2000) and Patricia Victoria (born in 2001), and Isabella Cristina (born in 2006).

Notes

References

External links

Facebook Page

Twitter - @leodiazurbina
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diaz Urbina, Leo New Progressive Party members of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico Presidents of the New Progressive Party (Puerto Rico) 1962 births Living people Puerto Rican party leaders University of Puerto Rico alumni