Puerto Rico Resident Commissioner criticizes statehood lobbying efforts citing questionable numbers

From the floor of the United States House of Representatives, Puerto Rico Resident Commissioner, Pablo José Hernández Rivera (PDP, D), criticized this week’s efforts by the government advocating for statehood in Washington, DC, calling it an unnecessary endeavor that distorts the will of the Puerto Rican people. Hernández Rivera emphasized what he described as his “mandate from the people: to prioritize economic development and reconstruction—not the debate over the political status of the islands.”

In the latest vote, 58.61% of voters, or 620,782, preferred statehood as their choice for Puerto Rico’s status. Hernández, applying the same interpretation, obtained the support of 43.5% of the electorate, or 530,540 votes.

His remarks come as the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration and the Governor’s office are lobbying in Washington, DC for statehood based on the latest plebiscite’s results.

Hernández also recently sent a Dear Colleague letter to House and Senate members, providing what his office described as a “factual and balanced context on Puerto Rico’s status history,” itself containing misrepresentations of electoral results to fit the resident commissioner’s narrative.

In his speech, Hernández claimed that in “November 2024, 51% of Puerto Ricans refused to vote for statehood, instead electing him with a clear directive: focus on economic development and reconstruction.” Hernández’ claim, comes from adding blank ballots as a valid vote to arrive at the 51% figure, a dubious interpretation of the results that is not aligned with the electoral law in Puerto Rico. For instance, if a similar interpretation were applied to his own election as resident commissioner, one could conclude a majority—692,303 versus 530,540 voters—rejected Hernandez’ candidacy.

“The government of Puerto Rico can spend its time however it wants—I cannot and will not spend mine talking about Puerto Rico’s status. I would rather talk about the status of our supply chain, and how Puerto Rico can strengthen it. I would rather talk about the status of our electric grid, and how the government must move faster to fix it. I would rather talk about an agenda that unites Puerto Ricans, Democrats, and Republicans.”