# Luis Javier Hernández Ortiz

Luis Javier "Javy" Hernández Ortiz, is the former mayor of Villalba, Puerto Rico. He held office from 2013 to 2025. He is one of the youngest mayors of Puerto Rico. Hernández graduated with a Juris Doctor from the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico. He also studied International Law and European Community Law from the Ortega & Gasset Foundation in Toledo, Spain. He also holds a bachelor's degree in Forensic Psychology from the University of Puerto Rico.

## Early life and education

Hernández Ortiz was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, and raised in the town of Villalba. He is the grandson of Félix Luis Hernández, a former mayor of Villalba. He completed his primary education at Colegio Nuestra Señora del Carmen and his secondary education at Norma Iris Torres Colón Intermediate School and Francisco Zayas Santana High School.
He pursued higher education at the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico, earning a Juris Doctor degree with honors (Cum Laude). Additionally, he studied International Law and European Community Law at the Ortega y Gasset Foundation in Toledo, Spain. Hernández Ortiz also holds a degree in Forensic Psychology from the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, graduating with high honors (Magna Cum Laude).

## Legal and Political Career

Before entering politics, Hernández Ortiz specialized in corporate law, administrative law, labor law, healthcare and hospital advisory, legislative affairs, municipal law, and general civil law. He also served as a legal advisor to former Villalba mayor Waldemar Rivera Torres and the Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico.

### Mayor of Villalba

Luis Javier Hernández became the mayor of Villalba on January 14, 2013, after the resignation of the elected mayor Waldemar Rivera Torres. He was re-elected in the 2016 and 2020 municipal elections. As mayor, Hernández focused on job creation, education, and social justice. He was instrumental in energizing the Toro Negro I Hydroelectric Plant after Hurricane María, bringing electricity to his town in a record time of two months.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Hernández implemented a tracking program that was later adopted by the Puerto Rico Department of Health statewide. He also introduced "Programa Futuro," an educational initiative to enhance students' academic performance and provide skills for the 21st century. Under his leadership, Villalba became a hub for higher education, with the establishment of institutions like E.D.P. University and Education for Inclusion Academy, a specialized school for students with special needs.

### Senator

In December 2023, Hernández announced he would not seek re-election as mayor and would instead run for a seat in the Senate of Puerto Rico as a senator for accumulation. He won his party's primary elections on June 2, 2024, securing the most votes for the position. He was elected to the Senate on January 2, 2025.

### Leadership Roles

Hernández has been an active member of the Partido Popular Democrático (PPD) and has served in various leadership positions within the party. In 2023, he ran for the presidency of the PPD but lost to Jesús Manuel Ortiz. He also contested the presidency of the Democratic Party of Puerto Rico in 2024, but lost to Luis Dávila Pernás, a candidate from the New Progressive Party (Puerto Rico).
In 2020, Hernández was elected President of the Association of Mayors of Puerto Rico, a position he held until his transition to the Senate.

## Personal Life

Luis Javier Hernández is married to Glendaliz Soto Vega, with whom he has two daughters, Victoria and Isabel. In November 16, 2019, his wife died due to Leukemia.