The 2012 New Progressive Party primaries were the primary elections by which voters of the New Progressive Party (PNP) 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 New Progressive Party had already chosen current Governor Luis Fortuño, as their gubernatorial candidate for reelection. He would be joined again in the ballot by current Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi. There was the possibility for a primary between Fortuño and aspiring candidate Iván González Cancel, but he wasn't certified by the Commission. González appealed the decision in the courts, but the case was still pending at the time of the primaries.
In the Senate, there were 14 sitting senators looking to retain their election spots. In the House, there were around 6 sitting at-large representatives as well. Also, some returning candidates from previous years, like Carlos Díaz, and other former officeholders, like María Milagros Charbonier and Zoé Laboy, were entering the political race. Current representative Liza M. Fernández was running for a Senate seat this time, while her husband, Angel Pérez, was running for a representative seat in District 6.
Sitting representative Cristóbal Colón Ruíz was also looking to gain an election spot to be mayor of Patillas, against sitting mayor Benjamín Cintrón. There were fifteen sitting mayor from the PNP that were challenged in primaries.
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
Lucy Arce
Héctor Morales
Margarita Nolasco
Itzamar Peña
Kimmey Raschke
Thomas Rivera Schatz
Melinda Romero
Larry Seilhamer
District
The New Progressive Party held primaries on 5 of the 8 senatorial districts.
San Juan
Eddie Charbonier
Liza M. Fernández
Zoé Laboy
Arecibo
Edgardo "Eggie" Centeno
José Emilio González Velázquez
Juan Miguel Guzmán
Angel Martínez Santiago
José "Joito" Pérez
Elaine "Tuti" Soler
Mayagüez-Aguadilla
Frank Hernández
Luis Daniel Muñiz Cortes
Alfredo Ocasio
Evelyn Vázquez
Benjamín "Bengie" Velázquez
Guayama
Osvaldo Colón Reyes
William "Willie" Jiménez
Miguelito Rodríguez
Marangely Sáez
Carlos J. Torres Torres
Humacao
Juan Bautista
José R. Díaz Hernández
Alexis Quiñones
Luz M. Santiago González
House of Representatives
At-large
Néstor Alonso
José Aponte
José Chico
Jenniffer González
Jorge Irizarry
José E. Meléndez Ortíz
María Milagros Charbonier
Yumary Peña
Lourdes Ramos
José "Pichy" Torres Zamora
District
The New Progressive Party held primaries on 18 of the 40 representative districts.
District 4
Carlos Díaz
Víctor Parés
District 6
Angel Pérez Otero
Antonio "Tony" Soto
District 11
José "Cano" Montes
María Vega Pagán
District 14
Ricardo Llerandi
Paula Rodríguez Homs
District 16
Eric Alfaro Calero
Armando Nieves
District 18
David Bonilla Cortés
Angel Muñoz
Alejandro Torres Babilonia
District 19
Rafael Beauchamp
Manuel Feliciano
Orlando "Pochy" Orta
Juan Alberto Zapata
District 21
Noel Morales, Jr. Ramoncito Ramos