The
Republican Party is a political party in Puerto Rico, and the affiliate of the national
Republican Party of United StatesThe Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
. The party supports statehood for the island. Carlos Méndez, the Mayor of Aguadilla, is the local chairman and the party is based in
San Juan, Puerto RicoSan Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
.
Luis G. FortuñoLuis Guillermo Fortuño Burset is the governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States of America. Fortuño is also the president of the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico , a member of the Republican National Committee, and will be president of the Council of State...
, the
Governor of Puerto RicoThe Governor of Puerto Rico is the Head of Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Since 1948, the Governor has been elected by the people of Puerto Rico...
, is the Republican Party's top elected official on the island.
Puerto Rico Republican Party Chairpersons
| Chair |
Term |
| Gabriel Ferrer-Hernández |
1899-1900 |
José Celso BarbosaDr. José Celso Barbosa was a medical Physician, sociologist, and political leader of Puerto Rico.Known within Puerto Rico's New Progressive Party as "The father of the Statehood for Puerto Rico movement", Barbosa was also the first Puerto Rican to be awarded an American medical degree.-Early...
|
1900-1921 |
| José Tous Soto |
1921-1932 |
| Rafael Martínez Nadal |
1932-1940 |
| Celestino Iriarte |
1940-1952 |
| Miguel A. García Méndez Miguel Angel García Méndez was a recognized businessman, lawyer, statesman, and banker in Puerto Rico. He was a lifelong statehood supporter for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico...
|
1952-1975 |
Luis A. FerréDon Luis Alberto Ferré Aguayo was a Puerto Rican engineer, industrialist, politician, philanthropist, and a patron of the arts. He was the third Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico from 1969 to 1973, and the founding father of the New Progressive Party which advocates for Puerto Rico...
|
1975-2003 |
| Angel Cintrón |
2003 |
| Tiody Ferré |
2003-2007 |
| Carlos Mendéz |
2007-present |
History
Once the
Spanish-American WarThe Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
ended in 1898, a wing of the
Autonomist PartyThe Autonomist Party was a political party in Puerto Rico founded in 1887. The Party was founded in Ponce, Puerto Rico, and its first chairman was Román Baldorioty de Castro....
, an old party from Spanish colonial times, founded The Republican Party on July 4, 1899. This new party favored joining the United States as a federated state and was led by Dr.
José Celso BarbosaDr. José Celso Barbosa was a medical Physician, sociologist, and political leader of Puerto Rico.Known within Puerto Rico's New Progressive Party as "The father of the Statehood for Puerto Rico movement", Barbosa was also the first Puerto Rican to be awarded an American medical degree.-Early...
. The party was ideologically
conservativeConservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
and was seen as representing the island's large sugar industry.
In 1924 the party split into two factions. One faction joined with the
Union PartyThe Union of Puerto Rico , also known as the Union Party, was a major political party in Puerto Rico.The UPR was founded in February 1904 by Luis Muñoz Rivera, Rosendo Matienzo Cintrón, Antonio R. Barceló, José de Diego and others after the disbanding of the Federal Party...
to form the Alianza (The Alliance), a pro-autonomy group. The other faction, renaming itself the
Pure Republican Party, joined with the
Socialist PartyThe Socialist Party was a political party in Puerto Rico.It was founded as the Labor Party in 1900 by Santiago Iglesias Pantín, an early leader of the Puerto Rican labor movement who was influenced by the Socialist Labor Party of America. It was formally refounded as the PS on March 21, 1915, in...
to form the pro-statehood
CoaliciónThe Coalition was an electoral alliance in Puerto Rico.The Coalition was formed in 1924, composed of the Republican Party and the Socialist Party. It was generally in favor of statehood and is generally regarded as representing the interests of United States sugar corporations. It held a majority...
(The Coalition).
In 1932, part of the Alianza returned to the Pure Republican Party, and the party was renamed the
Republican UnionThe Republican Union was a pro-statehood political party in Puerto Rico.The Republican Union was founded in 1932 from the merging of the Pure Republican Party and the conservative wing of the Alianza...
. The Republican Union eventually dissolved in the 1930s and became the Puerto Rican Republican Party.
In 1967 a split in the Republican Statehood Party between leaders
Miguel A. García MéndezMiguel Angel García Méndez was a recognized businessman, lawyer, statesman, and banker in Puerto Rico. He was a lifelong statehood supporter for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico...
and
Luis A. FerréDon Luis Alberto Ferré Aguayo was a Puerto Rican engineer, industrialist, politician, philanthropist, and a patron of the arts. He was the third Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico from 1969 to 1973, and the founding father of the New Progressive Party which advocates for Puerto Rico...
over the 1967 status plebiscite led to the formation of the
New Progressive PartyThe New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico is a political party that advocates for Puerto Rico's admission to the United States of America as the 51st state...
(NPP). The division caused the Republican Statehood Party to be dissolved after the 1968 elections when it did not poll the number of votes necessary to retain its party registration. The New Progressive Party went on to win the 1968 elections.
Luis Fortuño was re-elected by the Republican Party of Puerto Rico's General Assembly to continue serving as National Committeeman, a position he has held since 2001. He won reelection as National Committeeman in the GOP convention held on May 20, 2007 in Yauco, Puerto Rico.
On September 4, 2008 at
Minneapolis-St. Paul Puerto Rico's Delegation gave all 24 votes to the party's nominee for President in the upcoming 2008 election Senator
John McCainJohn Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
of Arizona, and the party's nominee for Vice-President, Governor
Sarah PalinSarah Louise Palin is an American politician, commentator and author. As the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, she was the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and first Republican woman nominated for the vice-presidency.She was...
of Alaska.
2008 Republican Primaries
On February 24, 2008, the Republican Party of Puerto Rico held its caucus for the 2008 Presidential Primaries. John McCain was awarded all 24 delegates from Puerto Rico.
Further reading
Trías Monge, José.
Puerto Rico: The Trials of the Oldest Colony in the World (Yale University Press, 1997) ISBN 0-300-07618-5
External links