2024 Puerto Rico Election Results

On November 5^th, 2024, the Puerto Rico electorate went to the polls to elect all officeholders for the next four years in what turned out to be a New Progressive Party (NPP) controlled government with a Republican leadership.

This year’s process included the election of the new governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the Resident Commissioner before the United States Congress.  It also allowed voters the opportunity to elect all members of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, as well as all mayors and their corresponding municipal legislators.

The following is a summary of the election results:

Governorship

With 39.45% of all votes, Jenniffer González Colón, representing the NPP and a member of the National Republican Party was elected Governor edging the other leading candidates, Juan Dalmau Ramírez of the Pro-Independence Party (PIP) by approximately 74,000 or 6.67% votes and Jesús Manuel Ortíz of the Popular Democratic Party (PDP) by approximately 204,000 votes or 18.43%. The remaining 6.75% of the votes were distributed among other candidates. At this moment, 91.35% of the electoral colleges have already been counted and the Puerto Rico State Commission of Elections has pre-certified Jenniffer González Colón as the presumptive Governor of Puerto Rico.  Mandated general vote scrutiny of all the votes cast should commence in the following days.

In accordance with Act No. 197-2002 (1 L.P.R.A. §458-477), officially known as the “Government Transition Process Act”, no later than four days after the Election, Governor-Elect González Colón will be selecting the members of the Incoming Transition Committee, which will work alongside the Outgoing Transition Committee in preparing and submitting the corresponding Transition Report, no later than December 31^st of this year. Governor-Elect González Colón is yet to appoint the Chairman of the Incoming Transition Committee.

Resident Commissioner

With 44.55% of all votes, Pablo José Hernández Rivera, representing the PDP was elected, surpassing former Senator William Villafañe (NPP) by over 100,000 votes, with a margin of victory of 9.5%. At this moment, 91.35% of the electoral colleges have already been counted and the Puerto Rico State Commission of Elections has pre-certified Pablo José Hernández Rivera as the presumptive Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico.  Pablo José Hernández Rivera is expected to become a member of the Democratic Caucus given his affiliation to the National Democratic Party.

Senate

With 91.35% of all electoral colleges reporting, but certain senate races within the margins of recount rules, it is safe to assume that the Senate of Puerto Rico will transfer control, from the PPD to the NPP, with the following composition:

• 17 NPP (Including 5 At-Large Senators)
• 8 PDP (Including 4 At-Large Senators)
• 1 Puerto Rico Independence Party At-Large Senator
• 1 Proyecto Dignidad At-Large Senator

Senator Thomas Rivera Schatz is likely to become the President of the Senate for a third time.

House of Representatives

With 91.35% of all electoral colleges reporting, but certain House races within the margins of recount rules, it is safe to assume that the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico will transfer control, from the PDP to the NPP, with the following composition:

• 28 NPP (including 5 At-Large Representatives)
• 19 PDP (including 4 At-Large Representatives)
• 1 Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana At-Large Representative
• 1 Proyecto Dignidad At-Large Representative
• 2 PIP (including 1 At-Large Representative)

Carlos (Johnny) Méndez Núñez is expected to be elected Speaker for a second time.

It is noteworthy to point out that the projected Legislative Leadership, Thomas Rivera Schatz and Carlos (Johnny) Méndez Núñez, as well as Governor-Elect Jenniffer González Colón, are longstanding members of the National Republican Party.

Mayors

Pending mandated vote scrutiny and review of those races within recount rules margins most municipalities will not experience changes in administration from one party to another, with only three municipalities changing from the NPP to the PDP, and one municipality changing from the PDP to the NPP. The overall results are 45 municipalities with PDP mayors and 33 municipalities with NPP mayors.

We wish to highlight the following results:

• San Juan remains with Mayor Miguel Romero (NPP)
• Bayamón remains with Mayor Ramón Luis Rivera (NPP)
• Carolina remains with Mayor José Carlos Aponte (PDP)
• Caguas remains with Mayor William Miranda Torres (PDP)
• Ponce remains with Mayor Marlese Sifre (PDP)
• Aguadilla remains with Mayor Julio Roldán (PDP)
• Humacao changes from NPP to PDP with incoming Mayor Rosamar Trujillo Plumey
• Arecibo remains with Mayor Carlos (Tito) Ramírez (PDP)
• Mayagüez remains with Mayor Jorge Luis Ramos Ruíz (PDP)

Plebiscite

The November 5^th election afforded residents of Puerto Rico the opportunity to express their preference as to the political status issue among Statehood, Independence and Sovereignty with Free Association with the United States. Statehood was the preferred option of the electorate with 56.82% of the votes having counted 91.35% of the votes cast. 

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