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Reflecting on the Popular Democratic Party’s (PDP) performance in the 2024 election, PDP President Jesús Manuel Ortiz González, the party’s candidate for governor, expressed that the party’s third-place finish was a result of a miscalculated protest vote aimed at Puerto Rico’s traditionally dominant political rival, the New Progressive Party (NPP), which led to an erroneous move.
For the first time ever, the PDP placed behind the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP), a consistent underdog, in a governor’s election.
“I am exiting this competition without any allegations against my character, without any claims about my tenure as a public servant,” Ortiz González remarked during a press briefing. “It was a protest vote aimed at unseating a government, but it turned out to be faulty, and we expected that. The party with the political infrastructure and the capability to carry out a governmental agenda was the Popular Democratic Party, and the outcome is what it is. So I can confidently state that even the polls utilized to support the narrative depicted me as the candidate who received the most favorable opinions from voters.”
He indicated that the results were influenced by a flawed narrative that led numerous individuals, including PDP supporters, to believe that the appropriate choice to prevent four more years of the NPP was to vote for the coalition between the PIP and the Citizen Victory Movement (MVC).
“And it turned out that it was not the case, and we anticipated this,” said Ortiz González, who, as of Wednesday afternoon, according to the latest report from the State Elections Commission regarding the vote tally, had achieved 21%, totaling 233,470 votes.
He noted that the PDP plans to scrutinize the outcomes, identify errors, and learn from prior missteps.
Pablo José Hernández Rivera of the PDP, the likely resident commissioner-elect, remarked that “the opposition vote was scattered due to the incorrect belief that the effective vote needed to defeat Jenniffer [González Colón, the NPP gubernatorial candidate] was a ballot for [PIP-MVC Alliance candidate] Juan Dalmau.”
“And today, we witnessed that this was incorrect, resulting in a fractured opposition,” he stated.
Ortiz González argued that the outcome for Dalmau Ramírez, likely positioned as the second-place finisher behind González Colón in the gubernatorial race, cannot solely be credited to the so-called Alliance or the PIP.
“Here we see the potential for a candidate affiliated with the PIP to secure second place,” Ortiz González commented. “This is not the PIP, nor is it even the Alliance. The legislators did not achieve election. That’s the reality. San Juan’s [mayoral candidate for the Alliance, Manuel Natal] prospects also did not materialize. What we observed was a phenomenon surrounding a candidate and an established narrative, and I always maintained that protest votes do not inherently produce change. I also indicated that this type of vote would aid the NPP in winning.”
“We will conduct a thorough analysis once the entire process is complete. I firmly believe that we need to introspect, but this reflection must take place when all results are available,” Ortiz González added. “There remains a significant amount to be counted and many votes that have been tallied in our favor, but I am not among those who attempt to obscure the truth. We face challenges; we must analyze, examine, and reflect as a party, and as president, I will advocate for this to occur.”
