By The Star Staff
José “Cheíto” Hernández Concepción, a San Juan municipal assemblyman and vice president of the capital’s third district, prevailed in a special election to fill the vacancy left by former Rep. Juan Oscar Morales of the New Progressive Party.
The information was confirmed by the State Elections Commission (SEC) following Tuesday’s recount of the votes from the election held over the weekend.
Hernández Concepción prevailed over Christopher Ríos Aponte by some 41 votes. The recount was needed because the difference between the two candidates was fewer than 50 votes.
The recount on Tuesday began at 9 a.m. and continued into the afternoon. Hernández Concepción obtained 866 votes on Sunday and Ríos Aponte, an employee of the Municipality of San Juan in the Housing division, obtained 816.
After the recount, Hernández Concepción finished with 871 votes and Ríos Aponte with 830, according to the SEC. A total of 1,708 voters participated in the election. There were two blank ballots, one null and four by direct nomination.
“I thank God and all the constituents of my District 3 who trusted me and honored me with their vote,” Hernández Concepción said. “I have officially been certified as an elected Representative for San Juan District 3. My utmost thanks to all the observers and to my campaign team who were by my side throughout the process.”
“I also want to give special thanks to all the people who participated in the special election with the intention of supporting two young people who decided to take a step forward to serve San Juan and Puerto Rico,” he added.