General elections were held in

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

on Tuesday, November 4, 2008, to elect the officials of the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

that would serve for the next four years, most notably the

Governor of Puerto Rico The governor of Puerto Rico () is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. Elected to a 4 year-term through popular vote by the residents of the archipelago and island, ...

. The gubernatorial election was won by incumbent

Resident Commissioner Resident commissioner was or is an official title of several different types of commissioners, who were or are representatives of any level of government. Historically, they were appointed by the British Crown in overseas protectorates (such a ...

Luis Fortuño of the New Progressive Party (PNP), who defeated incumbent governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá of the Popular Democratic Party (PPD) by 53% to 41%. Most other positions were won by PNP candidates, with Pedro Pierluisi winning the election for Resident Commissioner, and the party winning a majority of seats in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

and the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

. The elections occurred after one term of what was called "shared government", as a result of the 2004 elections. Because of this, the island had a Governor from one party (Acevedo Vilá), while the opposing party held a majority in the Senate and the House of Representatives. The struggles faced by the opposing parties attempts at cooperation, mixed with the global economic crisis, paved the campaign for this elections. Also, Acevedo Vilá was facing criminal accusations at the time. This was the last time until

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

that a Republican was elected Governor of Puerto Rico. Fortuño was sworn in as

on January 2, 2009.

Background

The 2008 Puerto Rican election was historic because: * It was the first time in more than 20 years that a new party ( PPR) joined the three traditional parties in the election. * It was the first time in Puerto Rican political history that one of the candidates (Aníbal Acevedo Vilá) faced federal criminal charges. * Supporters of former Governor Pedro Rosselló organized to promote a

write-in A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be poss ...

campaign on his behalf after he lost the party primary against Luis Fortuño.

Candidates

Before the election year, the

Constitution of Puerto Rico The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico () is the primary organizing law for the unincorporated U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, describing the duties, powers, structures and functions of the government of Puerto Rico in nine art ...

provides for any qualified person to present their candidacy for a specific position. If two or more candidates from the same party present their candidacy for the same position, and they can't reach an agreement within the party, a primary election is held. This election is held within the inscribed members of each party, to select which of the candidates will represent the party in the general election. Both of the main parties: New Progressive Party (PNP) and Popular Democratic Party (PPD), held primaries for several positions on March 9, 2008. The PNP primary was more notable for having two candidates for the position of

Governor

Popular Democratic Party

Incumbent Aníbal Acevedo Vilá ( 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 person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offense is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use that concept often use that of an ind ...

in March 2008 for alleged

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivat ...

to illegally raise money to pay off his campaign 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 Luis Fortuño announced his candidacy for

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 would be his running mate and run for Fortuño's current office of Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico. Pierluisi Urrutia was a classmate at Colegio Marista, a fellow member of the Puerto Rico Statehood Students Association and also a fellow cabinet member of Fortuño's during former governor Pedro Rosselló's first term from 1993 to 1996. On March 7, 2007, former Governor Pedro Rosselló stated that he was no longer interested in the Senate Presidency and is now focusing his attention in preventing Resident Commissioner Luis Fortuño 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, Pedro Rosselló conceded the victory to Luis Fortuño 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, 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 U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. On March 10, 2008, Rosselló sent the

media Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...

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 Arecibo barrio-pueblo, city and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality on the northern coast of Puerto Rico, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, located north of Utuado, Puerto Rico, Utuado and Ciales, Puerto Rico, Ciale ...

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.

Final candidates

After the primaries, the official candidates for

were set. The incumbent

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

, Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, Popular Democratic Party (PPD) faced the following candidates for the Governorship: * Luis Fortuño, Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico, New Progressive Party (PNP) * Edwin Irizarry Mora, Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) * Rogelio Figueroa, Puerto Ricans for Puerto Rico Party (PPPR)

Resident Commissioner

The incumbent one-term

(same as non-voting territorial delegate) Luis Fortuño, of the ( NPP/ R), was retiring from his House seat to run for

. Pedro Pierluisi (NPP), the former Puerto Rican Secretary of Justice under former Governor Pedro Rosselló, was the favorite to succeed Fortuño over

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

Alfredo Salazar (

PDP PDP may refer to: Computing and technology * Packet Data Protocol in wireless GPRS/HSDPA networks * Parallel distributed processing in Connectionism#Parallel distributed processing, connectionism * Plasma display panel * Policy Decision Point in t ...

). Regardless of which of the two men won, the seat would switch from Republican to Democratic hands in January as both candidates would caucuses with the Democrats. However, this seat would not have impacted which party controls the chamber.

Final candidates

* Pedro Pierluisi, New Progressive Party (PNP) * Jessica Martínez Birriel, Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) * Alfredo Salazar Jr., Popular Democratic Party (PPD) * Carlos Alberto Velazquez Lopez, Puerto Ricans for Puerto Rico Party (PPR)

Results

Governor

Resident Commissioner

Senate

House of Representatives

Mayors

References

# "2008 General Elections Results"
State Commission of Elections of Puerto Rico
. San Juan, Puerto Rico. November 4, 2008.

External links

* ttp://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/04/28/Puerto_Rico_approves_Acevedo_candidacy/UPI-31451209439682/ UPI: Puerto Rico approves Acevedo candidacy
New York Daily News: Luis Fortuño wins pro-statehood primary in Puerto Rico
{{2008 U.S. elections

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

General elections in Puerto Rico

United States House of Representatives elections in Puerto Rico Puerto Rico gubernatorial elections