The 2012 New Progressive Party primaries were the primary elections by which voters of the New Progressive Party (PNP) chose its nominees for various political offices of Puerto Rico for the 2012 general elections. They were held on March 18, 2012 and coincided with the Republican Party primaries in the island.
At the time of the primaries, the New Progressive Party had already chosen current Governor Luis Fortuño, as their gubernatorial candidate for reelection. He would be joined again in the ballot by current Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi. There was the possibility for a primary between Fortuño and aspiring candidate Iván González Cancel, but he wasn't certified by the Commission. González appealed the decision in the courts, but the case was still pending at the time of the primaries.
In the Senate, there were 14 sitting senators looking to retain their election spots. In the House, there were around 6 sitting at-large representatives as well. Also, some returning candidates from previous years, like Carlos DÃÂaz, and other former officeholders, like MarÃÂa Milagros Charbonier and Zoé Laboy, were entering the political race. Current representative Liza M. Fernández was running for a Senate seat this time, while her husband, Angel Pérez, was running for a representative seat in District 6.
Sitting representative Cristóbal Colón RuÃÂz was also looking to gain an election spot to be mayor of Patillas, against sitting mayor BenjamÃÂn Cintrón. There were fifteen sitting mayor from the PNP that were challenged in primaries.
Also, the amount of primaries per municipality and districts were few, when compared to previous years. As a result, the primaries were expected to be of low participation among the party members.
The New Progressive Party held primaries on 5 of the 8 senatorial districts.
The New Progressive Party held primaries on 18 of the 40 representative districts.
The New Progressive Party held primaries in 24 of 78 municipalities.
On the same day of the primaries, PPD Electoral Commissioner Eder OrtÃÂz, claimed he had evidence of fraud from the PNP primaries.
Senators Evelyn Vázquez (District IV) and José Emilio González (District III) had their candidatures at risk. Vázquez win over BenjamÃÂn Velázquez was close and could go to a recount, while José Emilio González claimed there were irregularities that could have led to his loss.
There was a lot of controversy surrounding the primaries for the House of Representatives District 6. Both candidates, Angel Pérez and Antonio Soto, have exchanged leads and have been announced as winners after different vote counts. Pérez, who had initially appeared as the loser, claimed there was fraud in the election, and accused Guaynabo mayor, Héctor O'Neill, of orchestrating it. When Pérez was announced as the real winner, O'Neill, who supported Pagán's rival, went into a rant on a radio interview against his own party.
Several sitting mayors from the PNP lost their candidacies for the elections. Some of them were BenjamÃÂn Cintrón (from Patillas), Lemuel Soto (Arecibo), and Maritza Meléndez (Naguabo).