PR elects Republican Delegate

Washington, D.C. – National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Reynolds (NY-26) congratulates Luis Fortuño on his historic victory yesterday, making Fortuño the first Republican from Puerto Rico to be elected to Congress as Resident Commissioner.

“We are ecstatic about welcoming Luis Fortuño to our Republican majority, which is further strengthened by the diversity he brings to our caucus,” said Reynolds. “Luis Fortuño has demonstrated the appeal of the Republican Party’s values and principles to Hispanics, and we congratulate him on a historic victory in becoming the first Republican to represent Puerto Rico in Congress."

“The NRCC recruited Luis and proudly supported his candidacy from the beginning, and we are confident he will be a valuable asset not only to Puerto Rico’s four million citizens but also to Hispanics across the nation.”

"And just so you know, most Republican politicians in Puerto Rico are of the John McCain (RINO) variety."

Most politicians in Puerto Rico who aligns with one of the national parties (not all of them do, actually: the current governor never has, for example) are either RINOs or DINOs, since national party ID is not really relevant---I'm sure some of them join national parties just to go party at the convention every 4 years. But Luis Fortuño is by no means a RINO---he is solidly pro-life (as are most Democrats in Pr, actually), has been a Republican National Committeeman for years, and was on the platform committee at the Republican National Convention in either 1996 or 2000 (I can't remember which).

"National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Reynolds (NY-26) congratulates Luis Fortuño on his historic victory yesterday, making Fortuño the first Republican from Puerto Rico to be elected to Congress as Resident Commissioner."

If I'm not mistaken, Puerto Rico elected a Republican as Resident Commissioner in 1968---his last name was Cordoba. And from 1900-1944 a lot of the Resident Commissioners from Puerto Rico were Republicans, since all statehooders were Republican and the pro-statehood party (which had several names through the years, but was known as the Statehood Republican Party for several decades) won on numerous occasions.

The Resident Commissioner elected in 1976 and 1980, Baltasar Corrada del Río, declared himself a Democrat when he got to Congress (probably because the House had a huge Democrat majority back then, and since the then-Governor of Puerto Rico, future Resident Commisioner Carlos Romero-Barceló, was a Democrat), but after Corrada del Río was elected Mayor of San Juan in 1984 he became a Republican and went on to preside over Puerto Rico's delegation at the 1988 Republican National Convention. Corrada del Río is now a Supreme Court Justice in Puerto Rico.

But Luis Fortuño's election is certainly good news, and he will become the 6th member of the Congressional Hispanic Conference for Republicans.

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