General elections were held in Puerto Rico on November 3, 2020, to elect the officials of the Puerto Rican government who served from January 2021 to January 2025, most notably the position of Governor and Resident Commissioner. In addition, there was a non-binding status referendum to ask voters if Puerto Rico should become the 51st state of the Union.

Incumbent New Progressive Party Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced, who succeeded to the governorship on August 7, 2019, was eligible to run for a full term in office, which she announced on December 16, 2019. However, Vázquez Garced lost her bid when former Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi won the New Progressive Party membership vote on the nomination for governor.

Pierluisi ultimately won the election on November 3, 2020, albeit by a narrow margin of 1.49%. As a result, this election was the closest race of the 2020 gubernatorial election cycle. Pierlusi's winning 33% of the vote was the lowest obtained by a successful gubernatorial candidate in Puerto Rico since the first direct election in 1948. Jenniffer González-Colón was re-elected as Resident Commissioner.

As of 2024, this was the last time that a Democrat was elected Governor of Puerto Rico.

Electoral system The Governor and Resident Commissioner are elected via first-past-the-post voting. The Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico is the only member of the United States House of Representatives who is elected every four years instead of a two-year term.

Candidates Governor New Progressive Party On March 3, 2019, Ricardo Rosselló announced he would seek re-election as governor in the 2020 elections; however, following the Telegramgate scandal and subsequent protests in front of La Fortaleza, Rosselló announced on July 21, 2019, that he would withdraw his bid for re-election. Shortly thereafter, on August 2, he resigned as governor.

On September 9, 2019, Pedro Pierluisi, who served briefly as de facto governor following Rosselló's resignation, announced he would seek the PNP nomination for governor for the 2020 elections. On December 19, 2019, Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced, who was elevated to governor on August 7, 2019, after Pierluisi's appointment was deemed unconstitutional, announced her intention to seek re-election to a full term as governor.

On August 16, 2020, in an extended primary process marred by troubles delivering ballots to polling places for the original primary date of August 9, Pierluisi defeated Vázquez Garced.

Popular Democratic Party After the defeat of Popular Democratic candidate David Bernier in the 2016 Puerto Rico gubernatorial elections, the party was mostly divided in opinions on how to move forward to the 2020 elections. While many in the party wanted to keep going with the same ideology of the Free Associated State, Carmen Yulín Cruz expressed a desire to create a new movement in the party, one that would support a free association of Puerto Rico as an independent country from the United States.

On August 16, 2020, in an extended primary process marred by troubles delivering ballots to polling places for the original primary date of August 9, Delgado defeated Bhatia and Cruz.

Other candidates On December 27, 2019, the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) filed its list of candidates for the general election, including Sen. Juan Dalmau as governor. Dalmau previously ran as the PIP candidate in the 2012 Puerto Rico gubernatorial election.

After the defeat of Alexandra Lúgaro as an independent candidate and Rafael Bernabe Riefkohl as the candidate for the Working People's Party in the 2016 Puerto Rico gubernatorial election, the two candidates joined with other Puerto Rican politicians in March 2019 to form a new political party called Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana (Citizen's Victory Movement). On November 19, 2019, Alexandra Lúgaro announced her second run for governor, this time running as the MVC candidate.

Proyecto Dignidad was certified as an official party by the CEE (State Commission on Elections) on January 22, 2020. It needed 47,406 petitions of endorsement to be certified, of which it received 47,856. On May 20, 2020, the party announced that César Vazquez would be their gubernatorial nominee.

On May 5, 2020, the CEE (State Commission on Elections) certified the candidacy of Eliezer Molina after a legal dispute over the amount of endorsements required to ratify his nomination.

Resident Commissioner On November 3, 2019, incumbent resident commissioner Jenniffer González of the PNP announced that she would run for a second term for the office of resident commissioner.

On December 10, 2019, former governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá of the PPD announced that he would run for a second non-consecutive term for resident commissioner. His first term was from 2001 to 2005. He became the official nominee on January 31, 2020, after his opponent José Nadal Power did not receive enough endorsements to officialize his candidacy.

On December 27, 2019, the Puerto Rican Independence Party nominated Dr. Luis Roberto Piñero for resident commissioner.

On February 5, 2020, the Citizen's Victory Movement had a general assembly, where Dr. Zayira Jordán Conde was chosen as the candidate for resident commissioner.

The final candidates were: Jenniffer González Colón, New Progressive Party (PNP/R) Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, Popular Democratic Party (PPD/D) Luis Roberto Piñero, Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) Zayira Jordán Conde, Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana (MVC) Ada Norah Henriquez, Proyecto Dignidad (PD)

Senate

House of Representatives

Referendum

The referendum asked one yes-or-no question: "¿Debe Puerto Rico ser admitido inmediatamente dentro de la Unión como un Estado?" (Should Puerto Rico be admitted immediately into the Union as a State?)

There were 655,505 votes in favor of statehood (52.52%) and 592,671 votes opposed (47.48%).Puerto Rico State Commission on Elections The referendum was non-binding, as the power to grant statehood lies with the United States Congress.

Opinion polls Governor

Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error Pedro Pierluisi (PNP-D) Charlie Delgado (PPD) Juan Dalmau (PIP) Alexandra Lúgaro (MVC) César Vázquez (PD) Other UndecidedThe Research Office/El Nuevo DíaThe Research Office/El Nuevo DíaOctober 27–30, 2020 1000 (RV) ± 3%35%34%10%11%5%2%3%Jorge Benítez Nazario/Radio Isla/Telemundo Puerto RicoJorge Benítez Nazario/Radio Isla/Telemundo Puerto RicoOctober 23–November 1, 20201,010 (LV)± 2.5%32%35%15%11%3%1% –Data for ProgressData for ProgressOctober 19–26, 2020439 (LV)± 5%39%35%8%10%1%2%5%Radio Isla/Jorge BenítezRadio Isla/Jorge BenítezOctober 12–17, 2020676 (RV)± 3.16%31%35%14%12%1%1%5%Gaither International/El VoceroGaither International/El VoceroSeptember 21 – October 6, 20202,401 (A)± 2%27%24%8%9%2%6%23%Beacon Research/Puerto Rico HeraldBeacon Research/Puerto Rico HeraldOctober 1–5, 20201,200 (LV) –31%24%8%9%3%7%18%El Nuevo DíaEl Nuevo DíaSeptember 19–23, 20201,000 (RV)± 3.1%38%37%6%13%1%2%5%Beacon Research/Puerto Rico HeraldBeacon Research/Puerto Rico HeraldSeptember 14–18, 2020803 (RV)—29%27%6%8%3%9%17%Becaon Research/Puerto Rico HeraldBecaon Research/Puerto Rico HeraldJuly 20–26, 2020802 (V) –26%24%7%6%2%18%16%El Nuevo DíaEl Nuevo DíaFebruary 21–25, 20201,000 (RV)± 3.1%40%19%7%6%4%18%6%

with Pedro Pierluisi Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error Pedro Pierluisi (PNP-D) Eduardo Bhatia (PPD-D) Juan Dalmau Ramírez (PIP) Alexandra Lúgaro (MVC) Other UndecidedBecaon Research/Puerto Rico HeraldJuly 20–26, 2020802 (V) –27%16%7%7%26%17%Beacon Research/Puerto Rico HeraldBeacon Research/Puerto Rico HeraldMay 3–7, 2020903 (LV) –25%15%5%8%34%14%Diario Las AméricasDiario Las AméricasMarch 30-April 21, 20201,500 (RV)± 2.6%42%22%15% –10%11%Beacon Research/Puerto Rico HeraldMarch, 2020 – (V) –22%20%5%7%28%18%Beacon Research/Puerto Rico HeraldFebruary, 2020 – (V) –29%20%5%8%24%14%El Nuevo DíaFebruary 21–25, 20201,000 (RV)± 3.1%38%23%6%7%20%6%

Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error Pedro Pierluisi (PNP-D) Carmen Yulín Cruz (PPD-D) Juan Dalmau Ramírez (PIP) Alexandra Lúgaro (MVC) Other UndecidedDiario Las AméricasMarch 30-April 21, 20201,500 (RV)± 2.6%42%21%14% –12%12%El Nuevo DíaFebruary 21–25, 20201,000 (RV)± 3.1%40%19%7%6%22%6%

with Wanda Vázquez Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error Wanda Vázquez (PNP-R) Eduardo Bhatia (PPD-D) Juan Dalmau Ramírez (PIP) Alexandra Lúgaro (MVC) Other UndecidedBecaon Research/Puerto Rico HeraldJuly 20–26, 2020802 (V) –24%17%9%7%27%16%Beacon Research/Puerto Rico HeraldMay 3–7, 2020903 (LV) –29%14%5%8%31%14%Diario Las AméricasMarch 30-April 21, 20201,500 (RV)± 2.6%41%27%12% –9%11%Beacon Research/Puerto Rico HeraldFebruary, 2020 – (V) –26%20%4%9%27%11%El Nuevo DíaFebruary 21–25, 20201,000 (RV)± 3.1%40%20%7%6%21%6%

Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error Wanda Vázquez (PNP-R) Carmen Yulín Cruz (PPD-D) Juan Dalmau Ramírez (PIP) Alexandra Lúgaro (MVC) Other UndecidedDiario Las AméricasMarch 30-April 21, 20201,500 (RV)± 2.6%46%21%12% –10%11%El Nuevo DíaFebruary 21–25, 20201,000 (RV)± 3.1%41%15%6%5%21%6%

Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error Wanda Vázquez (PNP-R) Charlie Delgado (PPD) Juan Dalmau Ramírez (PIP) Alexandra Lúgaro (MVC) Other UndecidedBecaon Research/Puerto Rico HeraldJuly 20–26, 2020802 (V) –24%23%7%7%23%17%El Nuevo DíaFebruary 21–25, 20201,000 (RV)± 3.1%42%20%5%6%21%6%

Resident Commissioner

Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error Jenniffer González (PNP-R) Aníbal Acevedo Vilá (PPD-D) Luis Roberto Piñero (PIP) Zayira Jordán Conde (MVC) Ada Norah Henriquez (PD) Other UndecidedThe Research Office/El Nuevo DíaThe Research Office/El Nuevo DíaOctober 27–30, 2020 1000 (RV) ± 3%44%32%7%9%4% –4%Jorge Benítez Nazario/Radio Isla/Telemundo Puerto Rico October 23 – November 1, 2020 1,010 (LV) ± 2.5%43%39%7%4%3% – –Data For ProgressData For ProgressOctober 19–26, 2020 439 (LV)± 5.0%46%34%4%8%0%0%7%Radio Isla/Jorge BenítezRadio Isla/Jorge BenítezOctober 12–17, 2020676 (RV)± 3.16%43%40%7%2%2% –6%Beacon Research/Puerto Rico HeraldBeacon Research/Puerto Rico HeraldOctober 13–15, 2020809 (RV) –44%26% –5%2%7%16%Gaither International/El VoceroGaither International/El VoceroSeptember 21 – October 6, 20202,401 (A)± 2%44%16%3%5%3%6%5%Beacon Research/Puerto Rico HeraldOctober 1–5, 20201,200 (LV) –47%22% –7%2%8%14%El Nuevo DíaSeptember 19–23, 20201,000 (RV)± 3.1%43%33%6%11%1%1%5%Becaon Research/Puerto Rico HeraldSeptember 14–18, 2020803 (RV) –51%18% –7%3%8%13%Radio Isla/Jorge BenítezRadio Isla/Jorge BenítezJuly 28–August 3, 2020983 (LV)± 2.5%40%34%6%8%3% –9%Becaon Research/Puerto Rico HeraldJuly 20–26, 2020802 (V) –50%21% –4%2%10%12%Beacon Research/Puerto Rico HeraldMay 3–7, 2020903 (LV) –48%15% –4% –25%8%Beacon Research/Puerto Rico HeraldMarch, 2020 – (V) –32%21% –5% –26%16%Beacon Research/Puerto Rico HeraldFebruary, 2020 – (V) –39%22% –5% –25%9%

with Generic Project Dignity Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error Jenniffer González (PNP-R) Aníbal Acevedo Vilá (PPD-D) Luis Roberto Piñero (PIP) Zayira Jordán Conde (MVC) Generic Project Dignity Other UndecidedEl Nuevo DíaFebruary 21–25, 20201,000 (RV)± 3.1%41%20%5%5%4%19%6%

San Juan Mayoralty

Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error RossanaLopez (PPD) MiguelRomero (PNP) ManuelNatal (MVC) AdrianGonzalez (PIP) NelsonRosario (PD) Other UndecidedBeacon Research/Puerto Rico HeraldOctober 13–15, 2020258 (RV) –26%37%10%2%1%2%23%Gaither International/El VoceroGaither International/El VoceroOctober 1–7, 2020500 (V)± 4%17%38%18%2%1% –24%

Referendum Poll sourceDate(s) administeredSample sizeMargin of errorYesNoOther / UndecidedBeacon Research/Puerto Rico HeraldSeptember 14–18, 2020803 (V)± 3.5%53%35%12%Beacon Research/Puerto Rico HeraldJuly 20–26, 2020802 (V)± 3.5%54%33%14%

Results Governor