1 2000s
1.1 2003 npp primaries governor
1.2 2004 general elections
1.3 senate conflict
1.4 2008 npp primaries governor
1.4.1 primary backlash
1.5 2008 elections
1.6 2012 election , plebiscite
1.7 2016 election
2000s
carlos pesquera
rosselló stepped down governor after 8 years in power in 2001. period governor marked vieques protests , major economic growth due coincidence of emerging internet. in 2000, carlos i. pesquera, secretary of transportation under rosselló, ran governor. pre-election polls had him @ considerable advantage on pdp opponent, san juan mayor sila maría calderón. election grew closer, calderón closed gap pesquera s image harmed pdp campaign focusing on corruption under rosselló s tenure.
it did not pesquera acting district attorney guillermo gil said in june 2000 (three months before november 2000 election) corruption has name , called new progressive party while announcing grand jury indictment. grand jury had accused 18 people — including 2 mayors rosselló s npp — of running extortion scheme skimmed $800,000 in kickbacks $56 million government contract. during news conference, gil told journalists extorted money had ended in coffers of npp. , other actions gil object of many ethics complaints department of justice npp leaders.
in environment, npp lost 2000 election, losing governor s seat, resident commissioner, , state legislature. first election since creation npp suffered vote reduction. leo díaz assumed npp presidency, short-lived pesquera returned occupy position after defeating díaz.
turmoil consumed npp during first 2 years of 2001-2005 term. secretary of education, under rossello s administration, víctor fajardo, charged , convicted federal agencies of appropriating millions of federal funds directed education department. former house speaker , republican national committee man, edison misla aldarondo charged extortion attorney s office, , forced resign. in ironic turn of events, npp figures charged federal corruption crimes charged corruption puerto rico justice department using new anti-corruption state laws npp had enacted. in 2001, calderon named blue ribbon committee dedicated investigate government transactions under rossello s 2 terms.
2003 npp primaries governor
in july 2002, several of party s leaders involved in incident @ office of women s affairs. pesquera led phalanx of pro-statehood advocates , press government office administrator had refused display american flag alongside flag of puerto rico, required law. jury acquitted pesquera , other followers of wrongdoing.
in march 2003, rosselló, had been living in commonwealth of virginia, returned island, responding many calls , visits received prominent citizens , politicians. rosselló subsequently defeated pesquera in npp primary gubernatorial nomination.
2004 general elections
the fall 2004 campaign lively , controversial. rosselló s prior administration repeatedly painted corrupt, while pdp opponent (calderón chose not run re-election), resident commissioner aníbal acevedo vilá (pdp) behind in polls. after performance in televised debates, acevedo s campaign gained momentum, aided in part favorable press received island media outlets. in pre-election polls, rosselló led double digits, rosselló lost 3,000 votes (1,200 votes went write-in carlos pesquera) proving once again corruption matters puertorican voters. rosselló challenged electoral results alleging split ticket votes, had been counted before, illegal. after lengthy court battle decided united states court of appeals first circuit (located in boston, ma), acevedo vila certified governor.
senate conflict
as 2005 began, rosselló became senator arecibo district after senator víctor loubriel resigned seat d been elected, gaining seat did not run. started struggle between senate president kenneth mcclintock , rosselló control of senate presidency. dispute ended in stalemate mcclintock refused leave position, stance respected pdp minority senators , 5 other npp senators. led expulsion party of mcclintock 2 of npp senators backed him, matter led mcclintock file suit in san juan superior court, winning case, confirmed puerto rico supreme court in 5-1 ruling. infighting ended when rosselló defeated in 2008 primary , when mcclintock co-chaired sen. hillary clinton s successful democratic primary campaign , helped lead record-setting 68-32% victory in waning days of bid democratic nomination.
2008 npp primaries governor
luis g. fortuño, governor of puerto rico (2009-2013)
on march 7, 2007, rosselló stated no longer interested in senate presidency , focused attention in preventing resident commissioner luis fortuño winning march 2008 gubernatorial primary, , allowed name placed in nomination party s gubernatorial primary. mcclintock , 4 other senators won in san juan superior court suit nullify sanctions , expulsions party leadership has levied against them. puerto rico supreme court confirmed lower court decision 5-to-1 vote. result, mcclintock , supporters recognized npp members , free run under party banner. shortly after primary polls closed on march 9, 2008, pedro rosselló conceded victory luis fortuño after large margin of votes in favor of opponent in npp party primaries presidency of party , gubernatorial nomination. rosselló admitted defeat before votes tallied claiming fortuño next candidate of pnp party. in rosselló s conceding speech said luis fortuño has been selected people new president of party , candidate governor. people speak , obey, fortuño here party , here office (signaling party s official headquarters). s you, loyal members of party, make sure new leadership works statehood puerto rico . after conceding speech rumored , announced @ fortuño s headquarters former governor arrive there along loyal supporter , mayor of capital city of san juan, jorge santini, after fortuño s followers waited hours see leaders united neither rosselló or santini arrived. after primary on heavily rumored many rosselló not campaigning fortuño , d resign senator go home in virginia. on march 10, 2008, rosselló sent media written statement regarding future in confirmed retiring active politics , not campaigning candidate, finish term senator arecibo district, did.
primary backlash
most of rosselló s supporters elected in primary , endorsed fortuño candidate governor. however, several prominent npp members demonstrated strong opposition fortuño s candidacy , victory.
as results of march 9, 2008 primaries announced, npp s second vice president, miriam ramírez de ferrer, announced immediate resignation, saying right no longer second vice president of party. not see me ever again involved in active politics, party reunions or party meetings, plan become private citizen. there s lot of things haven t done want do, , ll things have statehood cause . ramírez candidate resident commissioner in primaries , openly supporting rosselló. lost fortuño s candidate, pedro pierluisi, , rosselló supporter defeated, former senate president, charlie rodríguez. when ramírez asked media if vote fortuño, replied vote secret .
another strong voice against fortuño npp former president leo díaz. díaz accused fortuño , wife of having ties pdp law firms , colonialist interests. @ november 4, 2007, rally called con fuerza para vencer (with strength win), díaz said, in primary life of party in jeopardy. other candidate, fortuño, isn t real statehood defender! should explain why has ties pdp s law firms , why colonialist special interests financing campaign[...] . has since rejoined party activities , chairs santini s 2012 reelection efforts.
san juan mayor jorge santini made strong statements against fortuño during primary campaign, supported rosselló. said fortuño wasn t full-time leader , made arrangements other causes . subsequently campaigned fortuño, both in 2008 2012.
2008 elections
on november 4, 2008, npp retained , expanded super-majorities in legislative assembly, , won both resident commissioner , governor race landslide. towns strongholds of pdp, ponce, lajas, guayama, aibonito , naranjito (the last 4 had never before won npp mayor) elected npp mayors; results counted, luis fortuño had won governorship in 72 of 78 towns. given size of majorities in legislature, minorities law has applied prevent party having two-thirds majority. meaning new progressive party received @ least 34 of 51 seats in house of representatives , captured district seats of senate plus 6 at-large candidates. luis fortuno received 1,025,945 votes defeating incumbent aníbal acevedo vilá 220,635 votes or 11.5%. second time candidate governor new progressive party has received on 1 million votes, first time being pedro rossello in 1996. largest victory npp has ever had , largest defeat pdp has ever suffered in election history.
2012 election , plebiscite
while gov. fortuño failed win reelection on nov. 6, 2012, running mate became puerto rico s top vote-getter , npp won wide margins 2 questions posed in separate political status plebiscite ballot. fifty-four percent rejected continuation of current territorial political relationship united states while 61% of choosing political status voted statehood.
2016 election
on november 8, 2016, npp s gubernatorial candidate ricardo rosselló beat pdp s candidate, former secretary of state david bernier, become governor of puerto rico. in same election, jenniffer gonzález became new, , first female, resident commissioner of puerto rico. new progressive party became majority in legislative assembly winning 21 seats of senate , 34 seats of house of representatives. however, pdp retained majority of mayoralty races in island, total of 45 out of 78 municipalities. new progressive party (pnp) won total of 33.
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