General elections were held in Puerto Rico on November 2, 1948. Prior to the elections, amendments to the JonesâÂÂShafroth Act of 1917 had made the Governor of Puerto Rico an elected position, the governor having previously been appointed by the President of the United States; outgoing governor Jesús T. Piñero had been appointed by Harry S. Truman.
The Popular Democratic Party (PPD) formally distanced itself from the independence movement in a statement by its gubernatorial candidate Luis Muñoz MarÃÂn. The Republican Union Party changed its name to the Statehood Party, the former Liberal Party changed its name to the Reformist Party, and the Socialist Party ran alone in this election. MartÃÂn Travieso ran for governor on a coalition ticket for the Statehood, Socialist and Puerto Rican Reformist parties.
Muñoz MarÃÂn won the gubernatorial elections with 61% of the vote, becoming the first popularly elected governor of Puerto Rico.