Held in Puerto Rico on March 18, 2012
Popular Democratic Party primaries, 2012
The 2012 Popular Democratic Party primaries were the primary elections by which voters of the Popular Democratic Party (PPD) chose its nominees for various political offices of Puerto Rico for the 2012 general elections . They were held on March 18, 2012 and coincided with the Republican Party primaries in the island.
Background
At the time of the primaries, the Popular Democratic Party had already chosen current Senator Alejandro García Padilla , as their gubernatorial candidate. He would be joined in the ballot by Rafael Cox Alomar as candidate for Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico .
In the Senate , there were 5 sitting senators looking to retain their election spots. In the House , there were around 5 sitting representatives as well. Also, some returning candidates from previous years, like Roberto Vigoreaux , and other former officeholders, like Miguel Pereira and Aníbal José Torres , were entering the political race. Some relatives of known politicians also made the jump to politics. Eduardo Ferrer, brother of Héctor Ferrer , was aspiring for a Senate spot, while Javier Aponte Dalmau , brother of current mayor of Carolina , José Aponte Dalmau , both sons of former mayor José Aponte de la Torre , was running for a spot as representative for District 38.
Francisco Zayas Seijo , who was mayor of Ponce , was also attempting a return to politics after his defeat in 2008. He was running for the mayoral candidacy again, this time against Ramón Torres. The only sitting mayor from the PPD that was challenged in a primary was Edgardo Arlequín , from Guayanilla .
Also, the amount of primaries per municipality and districts were few, when compared to previous years. As a result, the primaries were expected to be of low participation among the party members.
Candidates
Senate
At-large
District
The Popular Democratic Party held primaries on only 7 of the 8 senatorial districts .
House of Representatives
At-large
District
The Popular Democratic Party held primaries on 24 of the 40 representative districts .
District 1
Ronald Ramos
Carlos Vélez
District 3
District 4
District 9
Javier de Jesús
Wraygabriel de Jesús
Roberto Ocaña
District 10
Juan Costales
Noel Herrera
District 12
Edgardo Feliciano
Luis "Wiso" Rivas
Miguel Angel Torres
District 13
Hiram Aguila
Felix Pagán
Ferdinand Rolón
District 14
Benjamín Pérez
Esther Vélez Barreto
District 15
District 16
District 18
Francisco Nieves
José "Pote" Vargas
María Vargas
District 19
District 20
District 22
Gregorio "Goyito" Rivera
Jorge Rivera
Gregorio Rodríguez
District 23
District 24
Adrian Graham
Evangelina "Vangie" Rivera
District 27
District 29
District 30
District 31
District 32
District 35
District 36
Norma Guzmán
Glenn Rivera
District 38
Javier Aponte Dalmau
Benjamín Cortés
Daniel Resto
Hiram Rivera
Luis David Rodríguez
Víctor Rodríguez
Richard Timm Ríos
Mayors
The Popular Democratic Party held primaries on 20 of 78 municipalities.
Leonardo González
Lisandro Quiles
Dennis Nuñez
René González
Gilberto Legarreta
Jesús "Manía" López
Raquel Ortíz Roldán
Ricardo García
Víctor Román Vélez
Roberto Colón
Georgie Maldonado
Rudy Santos
Michael Avilés
Reginald Neptune Torres
Héctor "Mol" Ibañez
Domingo "Isín" Méndez
Samuel Pellot
Miguel "Mickey" Ríos
Roxana "Ivy" Sánchez
Wilfredo Astacio
Aguedo Rivera Ríos
José Obel Rosario
Reinaldo Ramos
Angel Salas Pérez
Results
Senate
At-large
District
Candidate
Popular vote
Percentage
José Nadal Power
17,463
34.13%
Ramón Luis Nieves
9,872
19.30
Claribel Martínez
6,581
12.86
Angel Noel Rivera
6,485
12.68
Bethzaida Falcón
4,368
8.54
José M. Delgado
3,375
6.60
Raúl Valcárcel
2,463
4.81
Others
552
1.08
Candidate
Popular vote
Percentage
Wanda Arroyo
16,931
26.61%
Rubén Soto
11,595
18.22
Iván Serrano
10,900
17.13
Frankie Hernández
9,864
15.50
Rafael Rodríguez
9,562
15.03
Francisca Rivera
3,707
5.83
Others
1,064
1.67
Candidate
Popular vote
Percentage
Martín Vargas
19,640
24.69%
Ramoncito Ruiz
19,154
24.08
Jackeline Rosado
16,331
20.53
Rafael Santiago
9,971
12.53
José G. Izquierdo
7,426
9.33
Radamés Pérez
5,527
6.95
Others
1,507
1.89
Candidate
Popular vote
Percentage
Miguel Pereira
23,892
33.28%
Angel M. Rodríguez
16,154
22.50
Luis Guillermo Febus
14,486
20.18
Zulma González
12,741
17.75
Carlos Colón
3,653
5.09
Others
862
1.20
House of Representatives
At-large
Candidate
Popular vote
Percentage
Carmen Yulín Cruz
219,212
15.13%
Luis Vega Ramos
219,040
15.12
Jaime Perelló
214,796
14.82
Brenda López
169,686
11.71
Charlie Hernández
167,203
11.54
Jorge Colberg Toro
160,187
11.05
Eduardo Ferrer
146,657
10.12
Roberto Vigoreaux
82,027
5.66
Yaramary Torres
64,377
4.44
Others
5,925
0.41
District
District 1
Candidate
Popular vote
Percentage
Ronald Ramos
2,115
49.43%
Carlos Vélez
2,017
47.14
Others
147
3.44
District 3
Candidate
Popular vote
Percentage
Sonia Pacheco
2,551
48.79%
Rafael Hernández
2,070
39.59
Cristofer Malespin
546
10.44
Others
61
1.17
District 4
Candidate
Popular vote
Percentage
José Luis Báez
5,285
89.09%
José "Pocho" Marrero
501
8.45
Others
146
2.46
District 9
Candidate
Popular vote
Percentage
Wraygabriel de Jesús
2,461
42.43%
Roberto Ocaña
2,056
35.45
Javier de Jesús
1,157
19.95
Others
126
2.17
District 10
Candidate
Popular vote
Percentage
Juan Costales
1,957
58.49%
Noel Herrera
1,343
40.14
Others
46
1.37
District 12
Candidate
Popular vote
Percentage
Edgardo Feliciano
3,429
45.19%
Luis "Wiso" Rivas
2,613
34.44
Miguel Angel Torres
1,362
17.95
Others
184
2.42
District 13
Candidate
Popular vote
Percentage
Hiram Aguila
3,073
52.69%
Ferdinand Rolón
1,749
29.99
Félix Pagán Vega
834
14.30
Others
176
3.02
District 14
Candidate
Popular vote
Percentage
Esther Vélez
4,879
64.64%
Benjamín Pérez
2,475
32.79
Others
194
2.57
District 15
Candidate
Popular vote
Percentage
César Hernández
4,068
53.45%
José "Tato" Ruíz
3,485
45.79
Others
58
0.76
District 16
Candidate
Popular vote
Percentage
José Rodríguez
4,705
43.42%
José Enrique Méndez
4,105
37.88
Eladio Cardona
1,852
17.09
Others
174
1.61
District 18
Candidate
Popular vote
Percentage
Francisco Nieves
2,927
36.91%
José "Pote" Vargas
2,796
35.25
María Vargas
2,077
26.19
Others
131
1.65
District 19
Candidate
Popular vote
Percentage
Efraín de Jesús
2,985
42.81%
Teodoro Solá
1,537
22.04
Alex Vargas
1,310
18.79
Luis Negrón
517
7.41
Gil Mercado
348
4.99
Others
276
3.96
District 20
Candidate
Popular vote
Percentage
Carlos Bianchi
3,798
48.91%
Ramón Torres
3,092
39.82
Osvaldo Ortíz
706
9.09
Others
169
2.18
District 22
Candidate
Popular vote
Percentage
Gabriel Rodríguez
4,175
40.38%
Gregorio Rivera
3,469
33.55
Jorge Rivera
2,401
23.22
Others
295
2.85
District 23
Candidate
Popular vote
Percentage
Nelson Torres Yordán
4,040
40.64%
Edward Pacheco
2,380
23.94
José "Cheito" Rivera
1,925
19.36
Bienvenido Ramos
1,267
12.74
Others
330
3.32
District 24
Candidate
Popular vote
Percentage
Adrian Graham
4,448
52.48%
Evangelina Rivera
3,820
45.07
Others
207
2.44
District 27
Candidate
Popular vote
Percentage
José "Pito" Torres
6,547
66.60%
Guillermo Avilés
3,123
31.77
Others
160
1.63
District 29
Candidate
Popular vote
Percentage
Carlos Vargas
2,904
42.12%
Alfredo Lamboy
2,098
30.43
Joel Alicea
1,674
24.28
Others
219
3.18
District 30
Candidate
Popular vote
Percentage
Luis R. Ortíz
4,409
49.74%
Edgar González
3,153
35.57
Angel Sanabria
1,050
11.85
Others
252
2.84
District 31
Candidate
Popular vote
Percentage
Jesús Santa
3,254
54.15%
Rubén Ríos
2,364
39.34
Miguel Suárez
292
4.86
Others
99
1.65
District 32
Candidate
Popular vote
Percentage
"Conny" Varela
4,081
61.85%
Miguel Otero
1,699
25.75
Alexander Torres
628
9.52
Others
190
2.88
District 35
Candidate
Popular vote
Percentage
Narden Jaime Espinosa
4,917
61.36%
Elvin Monge
2,979
37.17
Others
118
1.47
District 36
Candidate
Popular vote
Percentage
Glenn Rivera
4,238
61.71%
Norma Guzmán
2,382
34.68
Others
248
3.61
District 38
Candidate
Popular vote
Percentage
Javier Aponte
2,314
33.44%
Daniel Resto
1,352
19.54
Benjamín Cortés
949
13.71
Hiram Rivera
811
11.72
Luis David Rodríguez
693
10.01
Víctor Rodríguez
465
6.72
Richard Timm Ríos
100
1.45
Others
236
3.41
See also
References
External links