Leo Diaz to run for NPP President in San Juan, gets Jenniffer Gonzalez’ endorsement
To the surprise of absolutely no one, Leo Diaz announced in a tweet to run for President of the New Progressive Party in San Juan, in other words, he’s running for Mayor of the capital city.
He tomado la decisión final e irrevocable, de correr por la presidencia del Partido Nuevo Progresista de San Juan.
— Leo Díaz Urbina (@leodiazurbina) January 17, 2014
Translated: I have taken the final and irreversible decision, to run for the presidency of the New Progressive Party of San Juan. (We wonder why the need to call it irreversible)
This announcement virtually guarantees primaries in San Juan since Miguel Romero, former Chief of Staff of Luis Fortuño is also in the running, with a thinly disguised campaign already in progress.
Jenniffer Gonzalez
On a rather more surprising note, Jenniffer Gonzalez, who served as Speaker of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico last term, and is now the Minority Leader in the House, has given an implicit endorsement to Diaz.
Junto al próximo presidente del pnp en san juan @leodiazurbina en el directorio del pnp pic.twitter.com/plAZuQORLq
— Jenniffer González (@Jenniffer2012) January 17, 2014
The endorsement by itself would not mean much, except that we had been seeing a flurry of pictures of her at events for Ricardo Rossello, who is presumed to be seeking the candidacy for the governorship for the NPP. It appears Gonzalez has snubbed the leadership of the party, jumping to Rossello’s team, which includes Diaz.
Sources say her moves are in response to NPP president Pedro Pierluisi naming Representative Jose Aponte, also a former Speaker, albeit a rival of Gonzalez, as party Secretary General. It can also be a part of higher office ambitions.
