New York – The incoming president of the Democratic Party in Puerto Rico (DPPR), Luis Dávila Pernas, told El Diario that the island’s delegation is immersed in preparations to participate in the Democratic National Convention in Chicago that begins next December 26. August.
At the event, which will last until the 29th, Joe Biden will be officially nominated as the Party’s presidential candidate.
Dávila Pernas, who is also the director of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration in Washington DC (PRFAA), indicated in an interview with this newspaper that, at the moment, the members of the DPPR are focused on the travel and stay procedures that each participant must pay.
“We have already completed the process of selecting delegates both at the district level, accumulation, and alternates; All of that is already selected. Now we are in the logistics of coordinating transfers, hotels, coordinating with the Party at the central level. We are going to be sharing the hotel with the delegation from New York, Massachusetts, Ohio, Maryland, so we are very excited; I think it’s going to be a great convention in the city of Chicago…”, anticipated Dávila Pernas, who will officially assume the presidency of the national party in PR a week later.
Dávila Pernas estimated the number of delegates who will travel to Chicago at 68; this in addition to members of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), such as the current president of the DPPR, Charlie Rodríguez; vice president Johanne Vélez; and the “National Committeeman”, Rosemarie Vizcarrondo.
The reorganization of the Democratic Party in Puerto Rico
On March 16, Dávila Pernas defeated the mayor of Villalba, Luis Javier Hernández Ortiz, in the internal election held at the Pedrín Zorilla coliseito, in San Juan.
4,268 members of the Democratic Party on the island voted for Dávila Pernas, versus the 2,762 who voted for Hernández Ortiz.
Dávila Pernás is a member of the ruling New Progressive Party (PNP), while Hernández Ortiz is a member of the Popular Democratic Party (PPD).
Charlie Rodríguez decided not to run for president again, and endorsed the aspiration of the PRFAA director.
In the case of the Democratic primary held on April 28, Biden prevailed, as anticipated.
Biden was the only candidate for whom 102 people showed willingness to be delegates and occupy one of the 36 available positions per district.
For this year’s primary edition on the island, the Rules and Statutes Committee of the National Democratic Party authorized amending the Puerto Rico Delegate Selection Plan so that there would be only 10 voting centers, eight in each of the senatorial districts. , and two on the islands of Vieques and Culebra, respectively.
The national parties, Democratic and Republican, are required to hold primaries as long as there is more than one candidate in the race.
DPPR also held its state convention
On June 8, the DPPR held a state convention Blue Lagoon Cafe & Ballroom, in the Condado area of San Juan.
At the event, the delegates’ commitment to supporting Biden’s candidacy during the convention in Chicago was reaffirmed.
The Puerto Rico Delegate Selection Plan, approved by the National Democratic Party (DNC), provided for 36 delegates to be elected per senatorial district in the presidential primary.
The remaining 29 additional delegates to which the island is entitled were selected at the event in the County.
Twelve of these delegates are by accumulation, seven are party leaders or elected officials (PLEO) and five are alternates.
Additionally, the right to five automatic delegates was recognized, which are the president, the vice president, the committeewoman, the committeeman, and the governor Pedro Pierluisi.
The importance of Puerto Rico in the Democratic National Convention
Although due to its status as a territory, Puerto Ricans on the island cannot vote in general elections, they can participate in the primaries of the Democratic and Republican parties. Puerto Ricans who reside in the states can participate in all federal electoral events.
Approximately 5.8 million Puerto Ricans lived in the U.S. in 2021, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of the federal Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.
In Florida, for example, which is the state with the largest number of Puerto Ricans or about 1,239,809, the population represents 27% of Latino voters, being the second most significant group after Cubans.
“The status of Puerto Rico is the main issue”
When asked by El Diario about the issues related to Puerto Rico that the delegation will focus on during the convention, Dávila Pernas said: “Definitely, status is the main issue. Without a doubt, it is the main root of the problem, so we are clear that this is going to be a priority issue. SNAP is something that concerns us too; health services, Medicare, Medicaid; everything that has to do with Supplemental Security Income (SSI); “All those issues in which Puerto Rico participates in inequality, we are going to ensure that they are included in the platform.”
“You know that the popular ones (of the PPD) who are part of the Democratic Party in Puerto Rico have criticized precisely that. “They say that, with so many situations in Puerto Rico, energy, delay in reconstruction, the Democratic Party on the island should refocus on those issues and not so much on the status, how do you respond to that?” this newspaper questioned.
“If it weren’t for the colonial status we have, they would never have taken us out of SNAP in 1982; If it were not for the colonial status we have, the Secretary of Justice would not have come out to defend before the Supreme Court the denial of SSI; and if it were not for that territorial condition, we would not have an undemocratic (Fiscal Control) Board with seven members who have veto power over the governor and the members elected by the Puerto Rican people in the Legislature. All of this is tied to that Territorial Clause and that territorial condition, which is what limits our potential for growth and development,” the official responded.
The challenges of the Democratic Party regarding Hispanic voters
Given the closeness of Biden and former President Donald Trump in the latest polls, Dávila Pernas considered it important that the Democratic Party recognize the diversity of the profile of the Hispanic voter in the United States when carrying the message.
“I believe that Hispanics are not a monolithic class of voters; We all have a different background; we all speak differently; We have different priorities, and in that sense we have to refine the message a little as to why it is important for that Hispanic Latino voter to go out and vote for Democrats, and what type of message is being given by the Republican Party. I think that is the key in terms of that and not generalizing the Hispanic voter as something generic that applies to the entire nation,” he explained.
Shortly before the first debate between the candidates this Thursday on CNN, the national average of polls from the FiveThirtyEight portal gave the current president 40.8% of voting intentions versus 40.7% for the Republican.
In terms of the trend of Hispanics moving to the Republican ranks and particularly in support of Trump, Dávila Pernas believes that it is necessary to contextualize according to each state.
“I believe that it can be decisive to the extent that it plays a main role in the states that we call hinge, which is Nevada, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin; Those are states that everyone is watching very closely to see who is going to prevail in the presidential race. Certainly, if the Hispanic voting bloc comes out to strongly support one of the two candidates, it could swing the balance for one or the other. So I think that yes, it can influence,” she considered.
Dávila Pernas concluded that in these elections the social advancement of populations such as Hispanics is at stake, which, in his opinion, has been better served by the Biden-Harris Administration than by the Trump Administration.
“I believe that this election is an extremely important one, it is about how Hispanics are right now, are they better than they were four years ago?; Just look at what the Biden-Harris Administration has achieved and how good it has been with these minorities and communities, and I think it deserves that vote of confidence to give it four more years and achieve those final goals that the president wants,” he said.
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