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In Power for a Year, Puerto Rico Leader Fights for Job at Polls

In Power for a Year, Puerto Rico Leader Fights for Job at Polls

Fighting corruption allegations and a resurgence of Covid-19, Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vazquez will face voters Sunday as she vies to lead the U.S. commonwealth out of a historic bankruptcy and recession.

Vazquez and the island’s former delegate to the U.S. House, Pedro Pierluisi, are in a tight race to represent the New Progressive Party, or PNP, during the Nov. 3 governor’s election. It’s a rare primary challenge for a sitting governor.

The vote comes a year after Governor Ricardo Rossello was ousted amid massive street protests and replaced by Vazquez, his justice secretary, in a contentious succession process that had to be sorted out by the island’s Supreme Court. Even with Rossello gone, scandal has continued to plague the government, as it battles back from a wave of earthquakes, Hurricane Maria and the pandemic.

It’s also facing demands for new austerity measures after amassing some $125 billion in debt and pension liabilities, with many of the proceeds squandered through free-spending, inefficient bureaucracy and corruption.

Pierluisi played a starring role in the political turmoil that rocked the island last August, when Rossello appointed him to the No. 2 spot just days before stepping down. The move made Pierluisi the de-facto governor for less than a week -- until the courts overturned his nomination and paved the way for Vazquez to take the top job.

Since then, Pierluisi, 61, has been plotting his return. With deep ties to Washington, he presents himself as a business-friendly candidate who has the connections to get federal aid flowing and clinch statehood for the island.

Vazquez is running on her record of shepherding the territory through earthquakes and a pandemic, and has made the defense of pensioners and public employees -- facing cuts from a federally-appointed fiscal oversight board -- banners of her campaign.

While the coronavirus has thwarted recent polling, surveys from March showed the race was too close to call. Polls also suggest that the winner of Sunday’s race will be the automatic front-runner.

The main opposition party, the Popular Democratic Party, or PPD, is also holding primaries Sunday. That race pits San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz against local legislator Eduardo Bhatia and Isabela Mayor Carlos Delgado Altieri.

Despite her prominent role in the national Democratic Party and broad name recognition, Yulin Cruz has been lagging in local polls. Instead, surveys have shown a close race between Bhatia, the former president of the Puerto Rico Senate, and Delgado Altieri, a relative unknown despite leading his northern municipality for two decades.

Commonwealth or Statehood

The ruling party and the PPD have controlled the governorship for the modern political history of Puerto Rico. The last PPD governor was Alejandro Garcia Padilla, who served until January 2017 and led the island when it announced it couldn’t continue making bond payments.

The parties aren’t directly aligned with mainland Democrats and Republicans. The major difference boils down to the island’s political status. The ruling PNP promotes statehood for the territory, and Vazquez has called for a non-binding referendum on that issue on election day. But actually changing Puerto Rico’s status would require support from Washington, which remains highly unlikely with Congress’s current makeup.

The rival PPD argues for modifying the current commonwealth status, and says the referendum is a naked ploy to lure PNP voters to the polls in November.

Sunday’s vote comes at a delicate time for Vazquez, 60. While she won initial praise for her forceful response to the coronavirus, rising infections and economically-painful restrictions have opened her up to attack.

Justice Woes

Last month, the Justice Department launched an investigation into her handling of emergency aid intended for victims of January’s earthquakes. Vazquez says the allegations are politically motivated, but they resonate with many.

Jose Elias, a 65-year-old retiree, says he can’t forgive Vazquez for firing the justice secretary last month in a purported attempt to derail that investigation.

“You get the sense that she doesn’t respect the office,” he said, “that she’s willing to trample the constitution to stay in power.”

Even so, Vazquez has a powerful ally in Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz, who is seen as controlling the PNP’s get-out-the-vote machine. The pandemic has also given her a tactical boost: Curfews and restrictions on gatherings have all but eliminated the raucous caravans that are the mainstay of Puerto Rico politics.

While Vazquez holds almost daily public events in her role as governor, Pierluisi has been relegated to low-key meetings with the party’s leadership.

“I have to say that this scenario -- where candidates have not been able to campaign as usual -- has some serious limitations,” Pierluisi said in an interview in June. “It tends to help those already in office, or those with wide name recognition. In my case that doesn’t apply. I am very much a known quantity.”

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