Jenniffer González of the New Progressive Party, which supports statehood for Puerto Rico, has declared victory as preliminary election results in the governor’s race put her ahead of her main opponent, Juan Dalmau — who emerged as a strong contender after becoming the face of a new third-party coalition that merged the minority Puerto Rican Independence Party with the Citizens’ Victory Movement.
“I will be the governor of all Puerto Ricans, of those who voted, of those who did not vote and of those who did not support me,” González said in Spanish during a speech late Tuesday night. “And although there are still votes to be counted, I know that the trend is clear.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, González had 39% of the vote with 91% of precincts reporting, according to the Puerto Rico Elections Commission. Dalmau was in second place with nearly 33%.
If González’s advantage over Dalmau prevails, the pro-statehood New Progressive Party would make history as the first in Puerto Rico to secure a third consecutive term.
Back-to-back pro-statehood governors have held office in Puerto Rico since 2016, when Ricardo Rosselló was elected. Fellow New Progressive Party member Gov. Pedro Pierluisi, who is currently in office, was elected in 2020 even after the party was marred in controversy following a political scandal and large protests that led to Rosselló’s resignation in 2019. Pro-statehood Gov. Wanda Vázquez briefly filled in the vacancy.
Dalmau said his party will wait until every vote has been counted.
Local political parties are largely divided based on the issue of Puerto Rico’s territorial status. But elected officials, especially Puerto Rico’s nonvoting member of Congress known as the resident commissioner, often need to choose to caucus with Democrats or Republicans in order to work with lawmakers on behalf of the territory.
González has served as resident commissioner since 2016. Unlike Pierluisi, who is a Democrat who supported Vice President Kamala Harris, González is a lifelong Republican who supported now-President-elect Donald Trump.
“It is now evident why I continued to support him,” Gonzalez said. “Puerto Rico cannot afford to be immersed in a dispute with the person who signs the checks and makes decisions over our territory.”
Gonzalez added that she feels confident in her ability to work with federal agencies and Trump Cabinet members to ensure that billions in federal aid earmarked for Puerto Rico’s reconstruction post-Hurricane Maria get disbursed.
An unprecedented shift
No winner has been certified yet, Jessika Padilla, president of the Puerto Rico Elections Commission, said during a news conference early Wednesday. “There are still votes in process of being counted.”
But if voting trends remain the same, the results would still point to an unprecedented shift in the Puerto Rican electorate.
Dalmau would be the first candidate from outside the two long-standing traditional parties in Puerto Rico — the New Progressive Party and the Popular Democratic Party, which supports the island’s current territorial status — to finish second in a gubernatorial election.
In every election over the past seven decades, the front-runners have been candidates from these two parties. Dalmau broke that pattern on Election Day when he received enough votes to relegate the candidate from the Popular Democratic Party, Jesús Manuel Ortiz, to third place.
Ortiz lagged 11 points behind Dalmau on Wednesday afternoon.
Dalmau’s growing support was not directly related to more Puerto Ricans supporting independence, but a response from a growing body of voters who felt let down by both traditional parties.
Many voters saw Dalmau and the coalition he led as an attractive alternative. Under “Alianza” (Alliance), the coalition branded itself as a movement opposing the pro-statehood party and the Popular Democratic Party by promising to prioritize good governance over the issue of Puerto Rico’s status.
In 2016, a record-low voter turnout of 55% — an unusual milestone for an island known for high voter turnouts of 73% to 89% — as well as low numbers in the 2020 election signaled growing voter dissatisfaction with the two main parties amid the island’s financial crisis and recent natural disasters.
The Puerto Rico Elections Commission is so far reporting a 58% voter turnout in this year’s election.
Fernando Rivera, director of the Puerto Rico Research Hub at the University of Central Florida, said the low turnout could indicate there are “a lot of people who may still feel disillusioned and they don’t think there is going to be any change.”
Despite González’s support for Trump, Puerto Ricans favored Harris in a symbolic presidential vote that was also carried out on Election Day.
Harris was leading Trump 73% to 27% as of Wednesday afternoon.
Puerto Ricans living on the island are U.S. citizens who can’t vote for president or participate in other federal elections. But both the Democratic and the Republican parties allow them to participate in presidential primaries and send delegates to their national conventions.
The Associated Press contributed.