2016 Puerto Rican general election


General elections were held in Puerto Rico on Tuesday, November 8, 2016 to elect the officials of the Puerto Rican government that will serve from January 2017 to January 2021, most notably the Governor of Puerto Rico. Rossello was elected Governor of Puerto Rico with the lowest percentage of votes since 1968. The election also resulted in a historic 23% drop in turnout. 2016's participation was the lowest voter turnout in Puerto Rican history. Rossello would go on to serve a 2 year term, having to resign after historic protests as a result of Telegramgate scandal. Wanda Vázquez Garced succeeded Rossello.

Governor of Puerto Rico

Nominations

Before the election year, the Constitution of Puerto Rico provides for any qualified person to present their candidacy for a specific position. If two or more candidates from the same party present their candidacy for the same position, and they can't reach an agreement within the party, a primary election is held. This election is held within the inscribed members of each party, to select which of the candidates will represent the party in the general election.
Both of the main parties: New Progressive Party and Popular Democratic Party, held primaries for several positions on June 5, 2016.

New Progressive Party (PNP)

The primaries were held on June 5, 2016 to determine candidates for Governor of Puerto Rico, the Senate, House of Representatives, and others.

Popular Democratic Party (PPD)

The primaries were held on June 5, 2016 to determine several candidates for the Senate, House of Representatives, and others.

Minor parties

Two minor parties officialized their gubernatorial candidates. The Working People's Party nominated Rafael Bernabe once again. The Puerto Rican Independence Party nominated María de Lourdes Santiago.

Independents

As of November 2015, two independent candidates expressed their interest in running for Governor:

Governor

The official candidates for the position of Governor of Puerto Rico are:
The official candidates for the position of Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico are:

At-large

The ballot featured sixteen candidates from four different parties and one independent candidate
;New Progressive Party
;Popular Democratic Party
;Other parties
;San Juan
;Bayamón
;Arecibo
;Mayagüez-Aguadilla
;Ponce
;Guayama
;Humacao
;Carolina

At-large

The ballot featured sixteen candidates from four different parties
;New Progressive Party
;Popular Democratic Party
;Other parties

Governor

The candidate from the New Progressive Party Ricky Rosselló beat the candidate from the Popular Democratic Party David Bernier obtaining 41.76% of the votes against 38.92% for Bernier. Most notably, the two independent candidates – Alexandra Lúgaro and Manuel Cidre – managed to arrive in third and fourth place with 11.12% and 5.73% respectively. For the fourth election in a row, the candidate of the Puerto Rican Independence Party failed to receive the required 3% of the votes to remain registered. The same result happened to Rafael Bernabe from the Working People's Party for the second election in a row.

Senate

'''Summary of the 8 November 2016 Puerto Rican Senate election
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! style="text-align:center;" colspan="3" | At-large
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! style="text-align:center;" | Votes
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House of Representatives

'''Summary of the 8 November 2016 Puerto Rican House of Representatives election
! rowspan="2" colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | Parties
! style="text-align:center;" colspan="3" | District
! style="text-align:center;" colspan="3" | At-large
! rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;" colspan="1" | Total seats
! rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;" colspan="1" | Composition
! style="text-align:center;" | Votes
! style="text-align:center;" | %
! style="text-align:center;" | Seats
! style="text-align:center;" | Votes
! style="text-align:center;" | %
! style="text-align:center;" | Seats

Resident Commissioner

Mayoral

Despite losing most of the Senate and the House, the Popular Democratic Party managed to win a majority of the mayoralty races in the island, with a total of 45 out of 78 municipalities. The New Progressive Party won a total of 33.