2008 Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico primaries


The 2008 Popular Democratic Party primaries were the primary elections by which voters of the Popular Democratic Party chose its nominees for various political offices of Puerto Rico for the 2008 general elections. They were held on March 9, 2008. Incumbent Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá faced no opposition for his candidacy, making him the official candidate for the elections.

Background

At the time of the primaries, incumbent Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá was allegedly being investigated by federal authorities for allegations of irregularities in his campaign finances. However, despite this, the party supported his candidacy for Governor.
Also, one of the most contested campaigns was the one for Mayor of Ponce, with incumbent Francisco Zayas Seijo facing the former administrator of the city, Carlos Jirau.

Candidates

Senate

At-large

District

The Popular Democratic Party held primaries on only 4 of the 8 senatorial districts.
Arecibo">Puerto Rico Senatorial district III">Arecibo
  • Wanda Arroyo
  • Javier Cruz
  • María Elena
  • Edgar A. Martínez
  • Francis Rivera
  • Iván Serrano Cordero
    Mayagüez-Aguadilla">Puerto Rico Senatorial district IV">Mayagüez-Aguadilla
  • Robin H. Montes
  • Sergio Ortíz
  • Omar Soto
  • Enid Toro de Báez
    Ponce">Puerto Rico Senatorial district V">Ponce
  • Modesto Agosto Alicea
  • José Luis Galarza
  • Bruno Ramos
  • José H. Rivera
  • Rafael Santiago
    Guayama">Puerto Rico Senatorial district VI">Guayama
  • Luis Guillermo Febus
  • Eder Ortíz Ortíz
  • Angel M. Rodríguez

House of Representatives

At-large

District

The Popular Democratic Party held primaries on 24 of the 40 representative districts.
District 3
  • Ruthy Currás
  • Herminio Pagán
    District 11
  • Ricky Arrillaga
  • Rafael Hernández
    District 12
  • Jorge Avilés
  • Eliezer Burgos
  • Claudio Ferrer, Jr.
  • Remberto Rodríguez
    District 13
  • Benny Collazo
  • Felix Pagán
  • Víctor Rodríguez
  • Amadis Ulises
    District 14
  • Vángelo Figueroa
  • Felix Rosario
  • Juan R. Torres
    District 16
  • Tony Rodríguez
  • Juan Vega Salamanca
    District 17
  • Moisés Acevedo
  • Armando Franco
  • Alfredo González
  • Héctor Mol Ibañez
    District 18
  • Luis "Chivita" González
  • Concepción Salas
  • Solá
  • María Vargas
    District 20
  • Elvin Camacho
  • Luis Ramírez
  • Jorgito Ramos
  • Eduardo Rosado
    District 21
  • Naida Mateo
  • Lydia Méndez Silva
  • Rafy Nazario
    District 22
  • Juan O. Alicea
  • Georgie González
    District 23
  • Wilo Beltrán
  • Rafael A. García
    District 24
  • Ramón Borrero
  • Luis Farinacci
  • Vilma Flores
  • Ferdinand Martínez
  • Vangie Rivera
    District 25
  • Edgar Manolo Avilés
  • Jorge Miranda
  • Piro Reyes
  • Víctor Vassallo
    District 26
  • John Avilés
  • Juan Carlos Figueroa
  • Gamalier Pagán
    District 27
  • Carmen Iris González
  • Carlos Luis Torres
  • Pito Torres
    District 28
  • Jorge I. Agosto
  • Frankie Cuadrado
  • Remesal
  • Rosendo
  • Luis Santiago
    District 29
  • Félix Agosto
  • Heric Colón
  • José R. Varela
    District 30
  • Rey Alomar
  • Eduardo Cintrón
  • Migdalia Díaz
  • Domingo Torres
    District 33
  • Héctor Carrasquillo
  • Gilbert
    District 34
  • George Soto
  • Juan Pedro
    District 35
  • Narden Jaime Espinosa
  • Ricardo Fernández
  • Freddy
  • José Pi Báez
  • José "Tony" Reyes
  • Valentín Valdés
  • William Vázquez
    District 36
  • Ricky Abreu
  • Andújar
    District 37
  • José Miguel del Valle, Jr.
  • Frankie Guerra

Mayors

The Popular Democratic Party held primaries on 23 of 78 municipalities.

Arecibo">Arecibo, Puerto Rico">Arecibo

  • Ramón E. Dasta
  • Héctor Rafael

Arroyo">Arroyo, Puerto Rico">Arroyo

Canóvanas">Canóvanas, Puerto Rico">Canóvanas

  • Moisés Castro
  • Jesús Rosado

Cataño">Cataño, Puerto Rico">Cataño

Ceiba">Ceiba, Puerto Rico">Ceiba

  • Gilberto "Lex" Camacho
  • Humberto González
  • Abimael Portalatín

Culebra">Culebra, Puerto Rico">Culebra

  • Alexis Bermúdez
  • Digna Feliciana

Fajardo">Fajardo, Puerto Rico">Fajardo

  • Myrna García
  • Norma Guzmán

Florida">Florida, Puerto Rico">Florida

  • Johnny de León
  • Yonatan

Humacao">Humacao, Puerto Rico">Humacao

Juana Díaz">Juana Díaz, Puerto Rico">Juana Díaz

Lajas">Lajas, Puerto Rico">Lajas

Lares">Lares, Puerto Rico">Lares

  • Chely
  • Rigo Guilloty

Las Marías">Las Marías, Puerto Rico">Las Marías

Las Piedras">Las Piedras, Puerto Rico">Las Piedras

  • Nelson Vázquez
  • Roberto Velázquez

Loíza">Loíza, Puerto Rico">Loíza

  • Julito Osorio
  • Maricruz Rivera

Moca">Moca, Puerto Rico">Moca

  • Wilson Acevedo
  • Aida E. González

Naranjito">Naranjito, Puerto Rico">Naranjito

  • Manuel Martínez
  • Moncho Padilla
  • Víctor Manuel Pérez
  • Cheo Rivera
  • Jolly Rivera

Ponce">Ponce, Puerto Rico">Ponce

Rincón">Rincón, Puerto Rico">Rincón

Salinas">Salinas, Puerto Rico">Salinas

Trujillo Alto">Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico">Trujillo Alto

Utuado">Utuado, Puerto Rico">Utuado

Vieques">Vieques, Puerto Rico">Vieques

Results

Senate

District

Arecibo">Puerto Rico Senatorial district III">Arecibo
Mayagüez-Aguadilla">Puerto Rico Senatorial district IV">Mayagüez-Aguadilla
Ponce">Puerto Rico Senatorial district V">Ponce
Guayama">Puerto Rico Senatorial district VI">Guayama

Aftermath

Acevedo Vilá's candidacy

Several weeks after the primaries, Incumbent Governor and PPD candidate, Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, was officially indicted on 19 counts of campaign finance violations. This put his candidacy in jeopardy, and several candidates where taunted as possible replacements. However, Acevedo Vilá decided to run for reelection, and was openly endorsed by the Party in a massive caucus held at the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum in April 2008. Acevedo Vilá would lose the 2008 general elections. However, in March 2009, he was found not guilty of all charges by a jury.

Split in Ponce

In the primary for the Mayor of Ponce, incumbent Francisco Zayas Seijo narrowly beat his opponent, former Ponce administrator, Carlos Jirau. Zayas beat Jirau by less than 30 votes. After the defeat, Jirau appealed the primary claiming there were irregularities in the process. He also started an independent movement called Movimiento Autónomo Ponceño. At the 2008 general elections, both Zayas and Jirau were defeated by the PNP candidate Mayita Meléndez. This was the first time a PNP candidate had won in Ponce in more than 20 years.