The 2008 New Progressive Party primaries were the primary elections by which voters of the New Progressive Party (PNP) chose its nominees for various political offices of Puerto Rico, namely the position of governor, for the 2008 general elections. Resident Commissioner Luis Fortuño was selected as the nominee at the primary elections held on March 9, 2008. He would go on to win the 2008 general election as well.
Background
Pedro Rosselló had come from a defeat against Aníbal Acevedo Vilá at the 2004 elections. Despite that, he managed to gain a seat in the Senate. After an unsuccessful power struggle within the Senate to gain the presidency of the body, it was speculated that Rosselló would make another attempt at being elected Governor for the 2008 elections.
The power struggle had caused a division within the party, with the faction that supported Senate President Kenneth McClintock (called the "Auténticos") being expelled from the party during the previous year. Although the Supreme Court allowed them to run in the PNP primaries, Pedro Rosselló, then President of the party, still vouched for a "vote of punishment" against the senators, which he called "traitors". on El Nuevo Día (January 3, 2008)
Candidates
Governor
Luis Fortuño, incumbent Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico Pedro Rosselló, incumbent Senator and former Governor of Puerto Rico
Resident Commissioner
Pedro Pierluisi, former Secretary of Justice Charlie Rodríguez, former President of the Senate of Puerto Rico Miriam Ramírez de Ferrer, former Senator
Senate
At-large
Wanda Aponte Lucy Arce Luis Batista Salas Cristóbal Berríos Norma Burgos Luis Oscar Casillas Jorge de Castro Font Manuel de Jesús José Garriga Picó Roger Iglesias Tito Maldonado Roberto Carlos Mejill
Henry Neumann Margarita Nolasco Reynaldo Paniagua Itzamar Peña Abid Quiñones Oreste Ramos Santos Ramos Lugo Thomas Rivera Schatz Orlando José Rivera Sepúlveda Luz M. "Tuty" Silva William Villafañe
District The New Progressive Party held primaries on all 8 of the senatorial districts.
San Juan Roberto Arango Carlos Díaz Omar Miranda Torres Edward Moreno Kimmey Raschke
Bayamón Felix H. Delgado Héctor "Cano" O'Neill Pedro Orraca Migdalia Padilla Carmelo Ríos Santiago Edwin Rivera Noel Toro
Arecibo José Emilio González Velázquez Anthony López Johnny Maldonado Víctor "Buhito" Marrero Angel Martínez Santiago Roger Owens Gabriel Félix Rivera Alexis Valle
Mayagüez-Aguadilla Luis Daniel Muñiz Cortes Michael Nazario Carlos Pagán Jorge Rodríguez Feliciano Evelyn Vázquez
Ponce María Alvarado Luis A. Berdiel Rivera Juan Luis "Cuto" Colón Benny A. Morales Ramoncito Ramos Larry Seilhamer Luinel Torres Acosta
Guayama Osvaldo Colón Reyes Paco Fontánez Miguelito Martínez "Vi" Negrón Osvaldo Ortolaza Figueroa Luisito Pagán Robert Santiago Antonio Soto Díaz Carlos J. Torres Torres
Humacao Juan B. José R. Díaz Hernández Francisco "Paco" Pereira Luz M. Santiago González Rafi Uceta
Carolina Haydee Calderón Muñoz Héctor Martínez Maldonado Rosemary O'Connell Pablo Ramos Lornna Soto Nayda Venegas
House of Representatives
At-large
José Aponte José Chico Angel Cortés Italo Costa Corsi Rolando Crespo Jenniffer González Jaime Irizarry Julio Lebrón Lamboy
Aixa Martinó Nicolás Muñoz Lourdes Ramos Iris Miriam Ruíz Soraya José "Pichy" Torres Zamora Félix Vega Fournier
District The Popular Democratic Party held primaries on 30 of the 40 representative districts.
District 1 Gloria Escudero Mario González La Fuente José "Nuno" López
District 4 Liza Fernández Nelson A. Rivera
District 5 Luisito Fuentes Jorge Navarro Suárez
District 6 Javier Capestany Figueroa Angel Pérez Otero
District 8 Toñito Silva Mario Tevenal
District 9 Pito Marrero Angel "Gary" Rodríguez Rafy Rodríguez Juan "Papo" Soto
District 10 Bernardo Márquez Pedro Julio Santiago Víctor Soto, Jr.
District 11 Frank Acha Víctor "Pío" Concepción Miguel Angel Figueroa Jean P. Rubio María Vega Pagán
District 14 Charlie Ayala Wilson Pantoja Gustavo Rodríguez Paula Rodríguez Homs Yamill
District 15 Arnaldo Jiménez Valle Efraín Concepción Rey Escoriaza Nino Román
District 16 Elisa Juarbe Beníquez Iván Rodríguez Miguel Trabal
District 17 Rafael Lugo Hernández José L. Rivera Guerra Junior Robledo William
District 18 David Bonilla Cortés Angel Muñoz
District 20 Norman Ramírez Rivera Lucy Rivera
District 21 Noel Morales, Jr. Rey
District 22 Héctor Luis "Tito" Camacho Jorge Collazo Waldemar Quiles
District 23 Luis Edgardo Díaz Julissa Nolasco Gaddier Oliveras Hernán Santiago
District 24 John Giménez Luis "Tato" León
District 26 Emilio José Luis Jiménez Freddy Santiago
District 28 Carmen Gloria Hernández Rafael Rivera Ortega Jorge Santini
District 31 Edgar Acevedo Junior Aponte Roberto López Jorge L. Reyes
District 32 José R. Camino Shirley Ann Casillas Magal González
District 33 Willy Gómez Angel R. Peña, Jr. Amparo Rodríguez Raúl Rodríguez
District 34 Cristóbal Colón Pickie Díaz Lorenzo Valcárcel, Jr.
District 35 Julio César Noé Marcano
District 36 Johnny Méndez Augusto Sánchez
District 37 Angel Bulerín William Cantres Nieves Normis Quintero
District 38 Eric Correa Joel Cruz Hiraldo Wilfredo Pérez Torres Raymond Sánchez
District 39 Sergio Esteves Esther César Valentín
District 40 Elizabeth Casado Francisco, Jr.
Mayors The New Progressive Party held primaries in 34 of 78 municipalities.
Aguada "Berty" Echevarría Manuel Santiago Lorenzo Vale, Jr.
Aguas Buenas Miguel Edwin Morales Vitín Ramos
Arecibo Carlos Molina Angel "Kuko" Ramos Lemuel Soto
Arroyo Darwin Covas Basilio Figueroa Ramón Morales
Caguas Orlando Rivera Carlos González
Camuy Edwin García Feliciano Johnny
Canóvanas Roberto Cruz Manuel Quiñones José "Chemo" Soto
Cataño
Julio Alicea Mayra Ramsamy Wilson Soto Yareco
Cayey Wilson Colón Benjamín González
Ceiba Pedro Colón Osorio Angelo Cruz Ramos
Corozal Roberto Hernández Vélez Norberto Torres
Florida Aaron Pargas Ojeda Víctor M. Rodríguez
Guaynabo Héctor O'Neill Miguel Gutarra
Humacao "Piloto" Santiago Maritza Vargas
Juana Díaz Gardy Guzmán Nilsa Santiago
Juncos Junito Mulero Karen Velázquez
Lajas Leo Cotte Edgardo Johnny Ramos
Lares Roberto Pagán Centeno Eddie Nuñez
Las Piedras Micky López Angel R. Peña
Loíza Luis Ambrosio de Jesús Eddie Manso
Luquillo José "Nelo" González Rafa Pérez
Morovis Norberto Negrón Heriberto Rodríguez
Patillas Benjamín Cintrón Lebrón Maritza Rivera
Ponce Angel Llavona María "Mayita" Meléndez
Quebradillas Moisés Soto Elías Nieves
Rincón María Lourdes Méndez Eddie Ríos
Río Grande César María Milagros Charbonier Javier Sánchez
Sabana Grande Wilfrido Bonilla Santitos Rivera Linnette Toledo
Salinas Ernesto Aponte Jorgito Díaz Carlos Rodríguez Mateo
San Germán Mónica Alpi Luis Cancel Efraín Montalvo Edgardo Suárez
San Sebastián Javier Jiménez Justo Medina
Toa Alta Luis Collazo Rivera Nelson Evelyn Ortega
Trujillo Alto Julio Andino Emmanuel Huertas Eduardo Otero
Utuado Alan González Cancel Jorgito Pérez
Results
The primaries were held on March 9, 2008. In it, Fortuño comfortably defeated Rosselló to win the spot for Governor at the 2008 elections.Primarias 2008: Escrutinio General - Gobernador on CEEPUR Also, Pedro Pierluisi defeated Charlie Rodríguez and Miriam Ramírez de Ferrer with 60% of the votes to win the spot for Resident Commissioner.Primarias 2008: Escrutinio General - Comisionado Residente on CEEPUR
Governor Candidate Popular vote Percentage Luis Fortuño 445,026 59.21% Pedro Rosselló 306,590 40.79% Others 49 0.01%
Resident Commissioner Candidate Popular vote Percentage Pedro Pierluisi 440,672 59.59% Charlie Rodríguez 248,127 33.56% Miriam Ramírez de Ferrer 50,590 6.84% Others 64 0.01%
Senate
At-large Candidate Popular vote Percentage Norma Burgos 421,139 11.37% Thomas Rivera Schatz 410,474 11.08% Margarita Nolasco 307,723 8.31% Jorge de Castro Font 278,733 7.53% Lucy Arce 228,360 6.17% Itzamar Peña Ramírez 219,524 5.93 Henry Neumann 208,535 5.63% Oreste Ramos 203,051 5.48% Abid Quiñones 179,890 4.86% José Garriga Picó 169,485 4.58% William Villafañe 162,918 4.40% Reynaldo Paniagua 144,668 3.91% Luis Batista Salas 102,479 2.77% Tito Maldonado 93,097 2.51% Roger Iglesias 85,859 2.32% Wanda Aponte 85,115 2.30% Cristóbal Berríos 77,053 2.08% Roberto Carlos Mejill 69,036 1.86% Luz M. "Tuty" Silva 64,171 1.73% Orlando José Rivera Sepúlveda 59,311 1.60% Manuel de Jesús 51,594 1.39% Santos Ramos Lugo 50,373 1.36% Luis Oscar Casillas González 29,253 0.79% Others 1,382 0.04%
District
San Juan
Candidate Popular vote Percentage Roberto Arango 42,191 29.17% Kimmey Raschke 35,193 24.34% Carlos Díaz 33,431 23.12% Edward Moreno 26,044 18.01% Omar Miranda Torres 7,632 5.28% Others 126 0.09%
Bayamón
Candidate Popular vote Percentage Migdalia Padilla 43,364 24.21% Carmelo Ríos 39,518 22.07 Héctor "Cano" O'Neill 32,336 18.06% Felix H. Delgado 23,120 12.91% Pedro Orraca 16,299 9.10% Edwin Rivera Rodríguez 13,068 7.30% Noel Toro 11,273 6.29% Others 118 0.07%
Arecibo
Candidate Popular vote Percentage José E. González 33,788 20.63% Angel Martínez 26,304 16.06 Johnny Maldonado 24,978 15.25% Alexis Valle 23,866 14.57% Anthony López 21,587 13.18% Gabriel Félix Rivera 12,717 7.77% Víctor "Buhito" Marrero 11,503 7.02% Roger Owens 8,959 5.47% Others 53 0.03%
Mayagüez-Aguadilla
Candidate Popular vote Percentage Luis Daniel Muñiz 50,010 29.92% Evelyn Vázquez 36,581 21.89% Carlos Pagán 35,959 21.52% Michael Nazario 22,569 13.50% Jorge Rodríguez 21,954 13.14% Others 56 0.03%
Ponce
Candidate Popular vote Percentage Larry Seilhamer 33,717 24.71% Luis Berdiel 25,497 18.69 Luinel Torres Acosta 23,754 17.41% Juan Luis Colón 17,330 12.70% Ramoncito Ramos 15,440 11.32% María Alvarado 14,387 10.54% Benny A. Morales 6,247 4.58% Others 81 0.06%
Guayama
Candidate Popular vote Percentage Antonio Soto Díaz 29,473 18.27% Carlos J. Torres 23,863 14.79 Luisito Pagán 22,288 13.82% Paco Fontánez 19,686 12.20% Miguelito Martínez 19,318 11.97% Osvaldo Ortolaza 18,057 11.19% "Vi" Negrón 14,294 8.86% Osvaldo Colón 9,335 5.79% Robert Santiago 4,957 3.07% Others 51 0.03%
Humacao
Candidate Popular vote Percentage Luz M. Santiago 36,234 24.39% José Ramón Díaz 36,211 24.37% Rafi Uceta 33,872 22.80% Juan B. 25,449 17.13% Francisco Pereira 16,716 11.25% Others 97 0.07%
Carolina
Candidate Popular vote Percentage Héctor Martínez 41,216 28.51% Lornna Soto 39,965 27.64 Haydee Calderón 16,312 11.28% Pablo Ramos 15,964 11.04% Nayda Venegas 15,956 11.04% Rosemary O'Connell 15,145 10.47% Others 25 0.02%
House of Representatives
At-large Candidate Popular vote Percentage Jenniffer González 404,852 11.24% Iris Miriam Ruíz 370,123 10.27% Lourdes Ramos 354,358 9.84% José Aponte 343,915 9.55% Rolando Crespo 280,263 7.78% José Chico 275,371 7.64 Jaime Irizarry 254,626 7.07% Nicolás Muñoz 246,449 6.84% Félix Vega Fournier 206,695 5.74% Soraya 194,496 5.40% Angel Cortés 184,346 5.12% José Torres Zamora 163,159 4.53% Aixa Martinó 157,830 4.38% Julio Lebrón Lamboy 124,520 3.46% Italo Costa Corsi 41,308 1.15% Others 233 0.01%
District
District 1
Candidate Popular vote Percentage José "Nuno" López 7,019 45.68% Gloria Escudero 4,245 27.63% Mario González 4,073 26.51% Others 29 0.19%
District 4
Candidate Popular vote Percentage Liza Fernández 12,960 82.98% Nelson A. Rivera 2,628 16.83% Others 30 0.19%
District 5
Candidate Popular vote Percentage Jorge Navarro 13,136 67.59% Luisito Fuentes 6,285 32.34% Others 14 0.07%
District 6
Candidate Popular vote Percentage Angel Pérez 12,439 53.53% Javier Capestany 10,788 46.42% Others 12 0.05%
District 8
Candidate Popular vote Percentage Antonio Silva 11,523 60.03% Mario Tevenal 7,670 39.95% Others 4 0.02%
District 10