Puerto Rico prepares for Election Day as a third-party candidate makes history
The two parties that have dominated Puerto Rican politics for decades are losing their grip as they face the stiffest competition yet from a younger generation fed up with the island’s corruption, chronic power outages and mismanagement of public funds
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The two parties that have dominated Puerto Rican politics for decades are losing their grip as they face the stiffest competition yet from a younger generation fed up with the island’s corruption, chronic power outages and mismanagement of public funds.
For the first time in the island's governor's race, a third-party candidate has a powerful second lead in the polls ahead of the U.S. territory's election Tuesday — and some experts say there’s a possibility he could win.
“This election is already historic,” said political analyst and university professor Jorge Schmidt Nieto. “It already marks a before and an after.”
Juan Dalmau is running for Puerto Rico’s Independence Party and the Citizen Victory Movement, established in 2019. A Gaither international poll this month shows Dalmau closing in on Jenniffer González, a member of the New Progressive Party and Puerto Rico’s representative in Congress. She beat Gov. Pedro Pierluisi in their party’s primary in June.
