The 2012 Popular Democratic Party primaries were the primary elections by which voters of the Popular Democratic Party (PPD) 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 Popular Democratic Party had already chosen current Senator Alejandro GarcÃÂa Padilla, as their gubernatorial candidate. He would be joined in the ballot by Rafael Cox Alomar as candidate for Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico.
In the Senate, there were 5 sitting senators looking to retain their election spots. In the House, there were around 5 sitting representatives as well. Also, some returning candidates from previous years, like Roberto Vigoreaux, and other former officeholders, like Miguel Pereira and AnÃÂbal José Torres, were entering the political race. Some relatives of known politicians also made the jump to politics. Eduardo Ferrer, brother of Héctor Ferrer, was aspiring for a Senate spot, while Javier Aponte Dalmau, brother of current mayor of Carolina, José Aponte Dalmau, both sons of former mayor José Aponte de la Torre, was running for a spot as representative for District 38.
Francisco Zayas Seijo, who was mayor of Ponce, was also attempting a return to politics after his defeat in 2008. He was running for the mayoral candidacy again, this time against Ramón Torres. The only sitting mayor from the PPD that was challenged in a primary was Edgardo ArlequÃÂn, from Guayanilla.
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 Popular Democratic Party held primaries in 20 of 78 municipalities.