# 2020 Puerto Rican general election

General elections were held in Puerto Rico on November 3, 2020, to elect the officials of the Puerto Rican government who will serve 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.

## 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)

### 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%). 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 | Sample size | Margin of error | Pedro Pierluisi (PNP-D) | Charlie Delgado (PPD) | Juan Dalmau (PIP) | Alexandra Lúgaro (MVC) | César Vázquez (PD) | Other | Undecided |
| The Research Office/El Nuevo Día | October 27–30, 2020 | 1000 (RV) | ± 3% | 35% | 34% | 10% | 11% | 5% | 2% | 3% |
| Jorge Benítez Nazario/Radio Isla/Telemundo Puerto Rico | October 23–November 1, 2020 | 1,010 (LV) | ± 2.5% | 32% | 35% | 15% | 11% | 3% | 1% | – |
| Data for Progress | October 19–26, 2020 | 439 (LV) | ± 5% | 39% | 35% | 8% | 10% | 1% | 2% | 5% |
| Radio Isla/Jorge Benítez | October 12–17, 2020 | 676 (RV) | ± 3.16% | 31% | 35% | 14% | 12% | 1% | 1% | 5% |
| Gaither International/El Vocero | September 21 – October 6, 2020 | 2,401 (A) | ± 2% | 27% | 24% | 8% | 9% | 2% | 6% | 23% |
| Beacon Research/Puerto Rico Herald | October 1–5, 2020 | 1,200 (LV) | – | 31% | 24% | 8% | 9% | 3% | 7% | 18% |
| El Nuevo Día | September 19–23, 2020 | 1,000 (RV) | ± 3.1% | 38% | 37% | 6% | 13% | 1% | 2% | 5% |
| Beacon Research/Puerto Rico Herald | September 14–18, 2020 | 803 (RV) | — | 29% | 27% | 6% | 8% | 3% | 9% | 17% |
| Becaon Research/Puerto Rico Herald | July 20–26, 2020 | 802 (V) | – | 26% | 24% | 7% | 6% | 2% | 18% | 16% |
| El Nuevo Día | February 21–25, 2020 | 1,000 (RV) | ± 3.1% | 40% | 19% | 7% | 6% | 4% | 18% | 6% |
with Pedro Pierluisi
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Pedro Pierluisi (PNP-D) | Eduardo Bhatia (PPD-D) | Juan Dalmau Ramírez (PIP) | Alexandra Lúgaro (MVC) | Other | Undecided |
| Becaon Research/Puerto Rico Herald | July 20–26, 2020 | 802 (V) | – | 27% | 16% | 7% | 7% | 26% | 17% |
| Beacon Research/Puerto Rico Herald | May 3–7, 2020 | 903 (LV) | – | 25% | 15% | 5% | 8% | 34% | 14% |
| Diario Las Américas | March 30-April 21, 2020 | 1,500 (RV) | ± 2.6% | 42% | 22% | 15% | – | 10% | 11% |
| Beacon Research/Puerto Rico Herald | March, 2020 | – (V) | – | 22% | 20% | 5% | 7% | 28% | 18% |
| Beacon Research/Puerto Rico Herald | February, 2020 | – (V) | – | 29% | 20% | 5% | 8% | 24% | 14% |
| El Nuevo Día | February 21–25, 2020 | 1,000 (RV) | ± 3.1% | 38% | 23% | 6% | 7% | 20% | 6% |
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Pedro Pierluisi (PNP-D) | Carmen Yulín Cruz (PPD-D) | Juan Dalmau Ramírez (PIP) | Alexandra Lúgaro (MVC) | Other | Undecided |
| Diario Las Américas | March 30-April 21, 2020 | 1,500 (RV) | ± 2.6% | 42% | 21% | 14% | – | 12% | 12% |
| El Nuevo Día | February 21–25, 2020 | 1,000 (RV) | ± 3.1% | 40% | 19% | 7% | 6% | 22% | 6% |
with Wanda Vázquez
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Wanda Vázquez (PNP-R) | Eduardo Bhatia (PPD-D) | Juan Dalmau Ramírez (PIP) | Alexandra Lúgaro (MVC) | Other | Undecided |
| Becaon Research/Puerto Rico Herald | July 20–26, 2020 | 802 (V) | – | 24% | 17% | 9% | 7% | 27% | 16% |
| Beacon Research/Puerto Rico Herald | May 3–7, 2020 | 903 (LV) | – | 29% | 14% | 5% | 8% | 31% | 14% |
| Diario Las Américas | March 30-April 21, 2020 | 1,500 (RV) | ± 2.6% | 41% | 27% | 12% | – | 9% | 11% |
| Beacon Research/Puerto Rico Herald | February, 2020 | – (V) | – | 26% | 20% | 4% | 9% | 27% | 11% |
| El Nuevo Día | February 21–25, 2020 | 1,000 (RV) | ± 3.1% | 40% | 20% | 7% | 6% | 21% | 6% |
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Wanda Vázquez (PNP-R) | Carmen Yulín Cruz (PPD-D) | Juan Dalmau Ramírez (PIP) | Alexandra Lúgaro (MVC) | Other | Undecided |
| Diario Las Américas | March 30-April 21, 2020 | 1,500 (RV) | ± 2.6% | 46% | 21% | 12% | – | 10% | 11% |
| El Nuevo Día | February 21–25, 2020 | 1,000 (RV) | ± 3.1% | 41% | 15% | 6% | 5% | 21% | 6% |
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Wanda Vázquez (PNP-R) | Charlie Delgado (PPD) | Juan Dalmau Ramírez (PIP) | Alexandra Lúgaro (MVC) | Other | Undecided |
| Becaon Research/Puerto Rico Herald | July 20–26, 2020 | 802 (V) | – | 24% | 23% | 7% | 7% | 23% | 17% |
| El Nuevo Día | February 21–25, 2020 | 1,000 (RV) | ± 3.1% | 42% | 20% | 5% | 6% | 21% | 6% |

### Resident Commissioner

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Jenniffer González (PNP-R) | Aníbal Acevedo Vilá (PPD-D) | Luis Roberto Piñero (PIP) | Zayira Jordán Conde (MVC) | Ada Norah Henriquez (PD) | Other | Undecided |
| The Research Office/El Nuevo Día | October 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 Progress | October 19–26, 2020 | 439 (LV) | ± 5.0% | 46% | 34% | 4% | 8% | 0% | 0% | 7% |
| Radio Isla/Jorge Benítez | October 12–17, 2020 | 676 (RV) | ± 3.16% | 43% | 40% | 7% | 2% | 2% | – | 6% |
| Beacon Research/Puerto Rico Herald | October 13–15, 2020 | 809 (RV) | – | 44% | 26% | – | 5% | 2% | 7% | 16% |
| Gaither International/El Vocero | September 21 – October 6, 2020 | 2,401 (A) | ± 2% | 44% | 16% | 3% | 5% | 3% | 6% | 5% |
| Beacon Research/Puerto Rico Herald | October 1–5, 2020 | 1,200 (LV) | – | 47% | 22% | – | 7% | 2% | 8% | 14% |
| El Nuevo Día | September 19–23, 2020 | 1,000 (RV) | ± 3.1% | 43% | 33% | 6% | 11% | 1% | 1% | 5% |
| Becaon Research/Puerto Rico Herald | September 14–18, 2020 | 803 (RV) | – | 51% | 18% | – | 7% | 3% | 8% | 13% |
| Radio Isla/Jorge Benítez | July 28–August 3, 2020 | 983 (LV) | ± 2.5% | 40% | 34% | 6% | 8% | 3% | – | 9% |
| Becaon Research/Puerto Rico Herald | July 20–26, 2020 | 802 (V) | – | 50% | 21% | – | 4% | 2% | 10% | 12% |
| Beacon Research/Puerto Rico Herald | May 3–7, 2020 | 903 (LV) | – | 48% | 15% | – | 4% | – | 25% | 8% |
| Beacon Research/Puerto Rico Herald | March, 2020 | – (V) | – | 32% | 21% | – | 5% | – | 26% | 16% |
| Beacon Research/Puerto Rico Herald | February, 2020 | – (V) | – | 39% | 22% | – | 5% | – | 25% | 9% |
Hypothetical polling :
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Jenniffer González (PNP-R) | Aníbal Acevedo Vilá (PPD-D) | Luis Roberto Piñero (PIP) | Zayira Jordán Conde (MVC) | Generic Project Dignity | Other | Undecided |
| El Nuevo Día | February 21–25, 2020 | 1,000 (RV) | ± 3.1% | 41% | 20% | 5% | 5% | 4% | 19% | 6% |

### San Juan Mayoralty

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Rossana Lopez (PPD) | Miguel Romero (PNP) | Manuel Natal (MVC) | Adrian Gonzalez (PIP) | Nelson Rosario (PD) | Other | Undecided |
| Beacon Research/Puerto Rico Herald | October 13–15, 2020 | 258 (RV) | – | 26% | 37% | 10% | 2% | 1% | 2% | 23% |
| Gaither International/El Vocero | October 1–7, 2020 | 500 (V) | ± 4% | 17% | 38% | 18% | 2% | 1% | – | 24% |

### Referendum

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Yes | No | Other / Undecided |
| Beacon Research/Puerto Rico Herald | September 14–18, 2020 | 803 (V) | ± 3.5% | 53% | 35% | 12% |
| Beacon Research/Puerto Rico Herald | July 20–26, 2020 | 802 (V) | ± 3.5% | 54% | 33% | 14% |

## Results
### Governor

The gubernatorial election was won by former resident commissioner Pedro Pierluisi (PNP/D), narrowly defeating Isabela Mayor Carlos Delgado (PPD/I). The margin of victory was of 1.49%, making it the third closest election in the last 20 years, the former being the 2004 election (0.18%) and the 2012 election (0.7%). In a surprising turn of events, all five parties remained registered, including the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) which had failed to remain registered in the last four elections.
| Candidate | Candidate | Party | Votes | % |
| | Pedro Pierluisi | New Progressive Party | 427,016 | 33.16 |
| | Carlos Delgado Altieri | Popular Democratic Party | 407,817 | 31.67 |
| | Alexandra Lúgaro | Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana | 179,265 | 13.92 |
| | Juan Dalmau | Puerto Rican Independence Party | 174,402 | 13.54 |
| | César Vázquez Muñiz | Proyecto Dignidad | 87,379 | 6.79 |
| | Eliezer Molina Pérez | Independent | 8,751 | 0.68 |
| Write-ins | Write-ins | Write-ins | 3,115 | 0.24 |
| Total | Total | Total | 1,287,745 | 100.00 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | Valid votes | 1,287,745 | 99.70 |
| Invalid votes | Invalid votes | Invalid votes | 838 | 0.06 |
| Blank votes | Blank votes | Blank votes | 3,055 | 0.24 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 1,291,638 | 100.00 |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 2,355,894 | 54.83 |
| Source: CEEPUR |||||

### Resident commissioner

The resident commissioner election was won by incumbent resident commissioner Jennifer Gonzalez (PNP/R), defeating former governor Anibal Acevedo Vila (PPD/D) by a wide margin (9.02%). Gonzalez received the most votes out of any candidate. She will become the first female and youngest resident commissioner to be re-elected to her seat.
| Candidate | Candidate | Party | Votes | % |
| | Jenniffer González-Colón | New Progressive Party | 512,697 | 41.14 |
| | Aníbal Acevedo Vilá | Popular Democratic Party | 400,412 | 32.13 |
| | Zayira Jordán Conde | Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana | 157,679 | 12.65 |
| | Ada Norah Henriquez | Proyecto Dignidad | 95,873 | 7.69 |
| | Luis Roberto Piñero | Puerto Rican Independence Party | 78,503 | 6.30 |
| Write-ins | Write-ins | Write-ins | 928 | 0.07 |
| Total | Total | Total | 1,246,092 | 100.00 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | Valid votes | 1,246,092 | 99.69 |
| Invalid votes | Invalid votes | Invalid votes | 838 | 0.07 |
| Blank votes | Blank votes | Blank votes | 3,055 | 0.24 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 1,249,985 | 100.00 |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 2,355,894 | 53.06 |
| Source: Puerto Rico Election Archive |||||

### Senate

While the New Progressive Party lost their 2/3 majority, the Popular Democratic Party failed to get the 1/2 majority by two seats. This senate will be the most diverse, having at least one senator of each party, including one independent senator.
| Party | Party | At-large | At-large | At-large | District | District | District | Total seats |
| Party | Party | Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | Total seats |
| | New Progressive Party | 404,114 | 33.34 | 4 | 859,719 | 37.60 | 6 | 10 |
| | Popular Democratic Party | 378,738 | 31.25 | 2 | 836,889 | 36.60 | 10 | 12 |
| | Puerto Rican Independence Party | 136,679 | 11.28 | 1 | 205,137 | 8.97 | 0 | 1 |
| | Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana | 133,069 | 10.98 | 2 | 324,319 | 14.18 | 0 | 2 |
| | Proyecto Dignidad | 88,716 | 7.32 | 1 | 59,189 | 2.59 | 0 | 1 |
| | Independents | 69,810 | 5.76 | 1 | | | | 1 |
| Write-ins | Write-ins | 990 | 0.08 | 0 | 1,119 | 0.05 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 1,212,116 | 100.00 | 11 | 2,286,372 | 100.00 | 16 | 27 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 1,212,116 | 99.12 | | | | | |
| Invalid votes | Invalid votes | 991 | 0.08 | | | | | |
| Blank votes | Blank votes | 9,802 | 0.80 | | | | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 1,222,909 | 100.00 | | | | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 2,355,894 | 51.91 | | | | | |
| Source: Puerto Rico Election Archive |||||||||

### House of Representatives

The New Progressive Party lost their 2/3 majority and the Popular Democratic Party gained enough seats to receive the 1/2 majority. This House of Representatives will be the most diverse, having at least one representative of each party.
| Party | Party | At-large | At-large | At-large | District | District | District | Total seats |
| Party | Party | Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | Total seats |
| | Popular Democratic Party | 435,325 | 36.03 | 2 | 459,368 | 39.09 | 24 | 26 |
| | New Progressive Party | 408,869 | 33.84 | 5 | 461,323 | 39.26 | 16 | 21 |
| | Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana | 154,971 | 12.82 | 2 | 128,797 | 10.96 | 0 | 2 |
| | Puerto Rican Independence Party | 127,577 | 10.56 | 1 | 102,266 | 8.70 | 0 | 1 |
| | Proyecto Dignidad | 81,360 | 6.73 | 1 | 18,790 | 1.60 | 0 | 1 |
| | Independents | | | | 3,277 | 0.28 | 0 | 0 |
| Write-ins | Write-ins | 294 | 0.02 | 0 | 1,208 | 0.10 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 1,208,396 | 100.00 | 11 | 1,175,029 | 100.00 | 40 | 51 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 1,208,396 | 99.11 | | 1,175,029 | 99.09 | | |
| Invalid votes | Invalid votes | 991 | 0.08 | | 991 | 0.08 | | |
| Blank votes | Blank votes | 9,802 | 0.80 | | 9,802 | 0.83 | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 1,219,189 | 100.00 | | 1,185,822 | 100.00 | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 2,355,894 | 51.75 | | 2,355,894 | 50.33 | | |
| Source: Puerto Rico Election Archive |||||||||

### Mayoral

The Popular Democratic Party kept the majority of municipalities, but it lowered from 45 to 41. Many incumbent mayors lost their races after years in the position, like Ponce (12 years under PNP) and Humacao (20 years under PPD). The closest race was of Guánica, where both Ismael Rodríguez (PPD) and Edgardo Cruz (Ind) claimed victory. At the end, the Supreme Court confirmed Rodríguez as the winner.
| Party | Party | Mayoralties |
| | Popular Democratic Party | 41 |
| | New Progressive Party | 37 |
| | Puerto Rican Independence Party | 0 |
| | Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana | 0 |
| | Proyecto Dignidad | 0 |
| | Independents | 0 |
| Total | Total | 78 |
| Source: CEEPUR |||

### Referendum

The option of "yes" won in the referendum, making the third time statehood won the majority of votes. The referendum is non-binding, as the power to grant statehood lies with the United States Congress.
| Choice | Choice | Votes | % |
| For | For | 655,505 | 52.52 |
| Against | Against | 592,671 | 47.48 |
| Total | Total | 1,248,176 | 100.00 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 1,248,176 | 96.89 |
| Invalid votes | Invalid votes | 464 | 0.04 |
| Blank votes | Blank votes | 39,546 | 3.07 |
| Total votes | Total votes | 1,288,186 | 100.00 |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 2,355,894 | 54.68 |
| Source: Puerto Rico Election Archive ||||