2012 New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico primaries

Background

At the time of the primaries, the New Progressive Party had already chosen current Governor Luis Fortuño, as their gubernatorial candidate for reelection. He would be joined again in the ballot by current Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi. There was the possibility for a primary between Fortuño and aspiring candidate Iván González Cancel, but he wasn't certified by the Commission. González appealed the decision in the courts, but the case was still pending at the time of the primaries.

In the Senate, there were 14 sitting senators looking to retain their election spots. In the House, there were around 6 sitting at-large representatives as well. Also, some returning candidates from previous years, like Carlos Díaz, and other former officeholders, like María Milagros Charbonier and Zoé Laboy, were entering the political race. Current representative Liza M. Fernández was running for a Senate seat this time, while her husband, Angel Pérez, was running for a representative seat in District 6.

Sitting representative Cristóbal Colón Ruíz was also looking to gain an election spot to be mayor of Patillas, against sitting mayor Benjamín Cintrón. There were fifteen sitting mayor from the PNP that were challenged in primaries.

Also, the amount of primaries per municipality and districts were few, when compared to previous years. As a result, the primaries were expected to be of low participation among the party members.

Candidates

Senate

At-large

• Lucy Arce
• Héctor Morales
• Margarita Nolasco
• Itzamar Peña
• Kimmey Raschke
• Thomas Rivera Schatz
• Melinda Romero
• Larry Seilhamer

District

The New Progressive Party held primaries on 5 of the 8 senatorial districts.

[[Puerto Rico Senatorial district I|San Juan]]

• Eddie Charbonier
• Liza M. Fernández
• Zoé Laboy

[[Puerto Rico Senatorial district III|Arecibo]]

• Edgardo "Eggie" Centeno
• José Emilio González Velázquez
• Juan Miguel Guzmán
• Angel Martínez Santiago
• José "Joito" Pérez
• Elaine "Tuti" Soler

[[Puerto Rico Senatorial district IV|Mayagüez-Aguadilla]]

• Frank Hernández
• Luis Daniel Muñiz Cortes
• Alfredo Ocasio
• Evelyn Vázquez
• Benjamín "Bengie" Velázquez

[[Puerto Rico Senatorial district VI|Guayama]]

• Osvaldo Colón Reyes
• William "Willie" Jiménez
• Miguelito Rodríguez
• Marangely Sáez
• Carlos J. Torres Torres

[[Puerto Rico Senatorial district VII|Humacao]]

• Juan Bautista
• José R. Díaz Hernández
• Alexis Quiñones
• Luz M. Santiago González

House of Representatives

At-large

• Néstor Alonso
• José Aponte
• José Chico
• Jenniffer González
• Jorge Irizarry
• José E. Meléndez Ortíz
• María Milagros Charbonier
• Yumary Peña
• Lourdes Ramos
• José "Pichy" Torres Zamora

District

The New Progressive Party held primaries on 18 of the 40 representative districts.

District 4

• Carlos Díaz
• Víctor Parés

District 6

• Angel Pérez Otero
• Antonio "Tony" Soto

District 11

• José "Cano" Montes
• María Vega Pagán

District 14

• Ricardo Llerandi
• Paula Rodríguez Homs

District 16

• Eric Alfaro Calero
• Armando Nieves

District 18

• David Bonilla Cortés
• Angel Muñoz
• Alejandro Torres Babilonia

District 19

• Rafael Beauchamp
• Manuel Feliciano
• Orlando "Pochy" Orta
• Juan Alberto Zapata

District 21

• Noel Morales, Jr.
• Ramoncito Ramos

District 22

• Exel López
• Luis Maldonado
• Waldemar Quiles

District 25

• Roberto González Rosa
• Luis Mercado Fraticelli
• Luis Armando Rivera

District 26

• Urayoán Hernández
• José Luis Jiménez

District 29

• Carlos Junior Aponte
• Adalberto Reyes

District 31

• John Corales
• Roberto López

District 32

• José R. Camino
• Orlando Rivera
• Rafael Uceta

District 34

• Félix "Johnny" Figueroa
• José Iván Medina
• Pickie Díaz

District 35

• Ciary Pérez
• Reinaldo Vargas

District 38

• Eric Correa
• Israel Matos Vázquez

District 40

• Angel Camacho
• Elizabeth Casado

Mayors

The New Progressive Party held primaries in 24 of 78 municipalities.

[[Aguada, Puerto Rico|Aguada]]

• Luis "Berty" Echevarría
• Manuel Santiago

[[Arecibo, Puerto Rico|Arecibo]]

• Carlos Molina
• Lemuel Soto

[[Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico|Cabo Rojo]]

• Perza Rodríguez
• José "Chiquin" Morales

[[Cayey, Puerto Rico|Cayey]]

• Wilson Colón
• Omar Vázquez

[[Ceiba, Puerto Rico|Ceiba]]

• Pedro Colón Osorio
• Angelo Cruz

[[Cidra, Puerto Rico|Cidra]]

• Javier Carrasquillo
• Pedro "Banchy" Cintrón

[[Culebra, Puerto Rico|Culebra]]

• Emerito Amaro
• Ricardo López

[[Florida, Puerto Rico|Florida]]

• Julio "Kosovo" Carrión
• José Gerena Polanco
• Aarón Pargas

[[Guayanilla, Puerto Rico|Guayanilla]]

• Janice González
• Julissa Nolasco

[[Hormigueros, Puerto Rico|Hormigueros]]

• Augustine "Chito" Olivencia
• José "Joe" Rodríguez

[[Humacao, Puerto Rico|Humacao]]

• Julio César López
• Lucrecia Ortíz

[[Isabela, Puerto Rico|Isabela]]

• Gabriel Machado
• Juvencio "Papo" Méndez
• José Sotomayor

[[Jayuya, Puerto Rico|Jayuya]]

• Roberto Pagán Crespí
• Luis Ernesto Torres

[[Loíza, Puerto Rico|Loíza]]

• Ferdín Carrasquillo
• Eddie Manso

[[Luquillo, Puerto Rico|Luquillo]]

• Eva Benabe Torrens
• José "Nelo" González
• David Pizarro Rivera

[[Manatí, Puerto Rico|Manatí]]

• Juan Aubín Cruz Manzano
• José Sánchez

[[Naguabo, Puerto Rico|Naguabo]]

• Noé Marcano
• Maritza Meléndez

[[Patillas, Puerto Rico|Patillas]]

• Benjamín Cintrón
• Cristóbal Colón Ruíz

[[Rincón, Puerto Rico|Rincón]]

[[Salinas, Puerto Rico|Salinas]]

• Basilio "Cholito" Baerga
• Carlos Rodríguez Mateo

[[San Sebastián, Puerto Rico|San Sebastián]]

• Joselly González
• Javier Jiménez

[[Toa Alta, Puerto Rico|Toa Alta]]

• Luis "Jumbo" Collazo
• Luis Visaldén

[[Utuado, Puerto Rico|Utuado]]

• Héctor "Tito" Camacho
• Doris Nilda González
• Juan Lamboy
• José "Junior" Pagán
• Jorgito Pérez

[[Vega Baja, Puerto Rico|Vega Baja]]

• José Galán
• Iván Hernández González

Results

Senate

At-large

District

[[Puerto Rico Senatorial district I|San Juan]]

[[Puerto Rico Senatorial district III|Arecibo]]

[[Puerto Rico Senatorial district IV|Mayagüez-Aguadilla]]

[[Puerto Rico Senatorial district VI|Guayama]]

[[Puerto Rico Senatorial district VII|Humacao]]

House of Representatives

At-large

District

Aftermath

Allegations of fraud

On the same day of the primaries, PPD Electoral Commissioner Eder Ortíz, claimed he had evidence of fraud from the PNP primaries.

Sitting senators losing

Senators Evelyn Vázquez (District IV) and José Emilio González (District III) had their candidatures at risk. Vázquez win over Benjamín Velázquez was close and could go to a recount, while José Emilio González claimed there were irregularities that could have led to his loss.

Representative District 6

There was a lot of controversy surrounding the primaries for the House of Representatives District 6. Both candidates, Angel Pérez and Antonio Soto, have exchanged leads and have been announced as winners after different vote counts. Pérez, who had initially appeared as the loser, claimed there was fraud in the election, and accused Guaynabo mayor, Héctor O'Neill, of orchestrating it. When Pérez was announced as the real winner, O'Neill, who supported Pagán's rival, went into a rant on a radio interview against his own party.

Incumbent mayors losses

Several sitting mayors from the PNP lost their candidacies for the elections. Some of them were Benjamín Cintrón (from Patillas), Lemuel Soto (Arecibo), and Maritza Meléndez (Naguabo).

References

References

1. Caro, Leysa. (March 19, 2012). "Colgados seis alcaldes del PNP". [[Primera Hora (Puerto Rico).
2. Muñíz, Alba. (March 18, 2012). "Denuncian vaciado de listas y unión de colegios republicanos y PNP". [[El Nuevo Día]].
3. Resto, Mara. (March 22, 2012). "Escaño de Evelyn Vázquez podría ir a recuento". [[Primera Hora (Puerto Rico).
4. Rivera, Daniel. (March 19, 2012). "José Emilio González cuestiona su derrota". [[El Nuevo Día]].
5. (March 30, 2012). "Ahora gana Soto frente a Angel Pérez". [[El Vocero]].
6. Rosario, Frances. (March 19, 2012). "Cinco representantes estadistas pierden la reelección". [[El Nuevo Día]].
7. (March 21, 2012). "Angel Pérez acusa a Héctor O'Neill de robarle la primaria". [[Primera Hora (Puerto Rico).
8. Hernández, Yanira. (March 29, 2012). "Al desnudo la manipulación de las primarias". [[El Nuevo Día]].
9. [http://www.telemundopr.com/telenoticias/voto-2012/pnp/Se-cuelgan-varios-incumbentes-penepes-en-las-primarias-143293276.html Se cuelgan varios incumbentes penepés en las primarias] {{Webarchive. link. (2012-03-22 on [[WKAQ-TV). Telemundo Puerto Rico]] (March 19, 2012)