Governor won’t make endorsement for resident commissioner for time being
By The Star Staff
Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia says that despite the possibility that former Sen. Larry Seilhamer Rodríguez will file his candidacy for resident commissioner, he will not offer his support for the time being.
“Everyone knows my relationship with Larry Seilhamer, the esteem I have for him, the admiration I have for him,” the governor said at a news conference late last week. “He is a great resource for Puerto Rico. But that decision has not been made. In due course, I will decide who I support for resident commissioner, which is an important position now that this vacancy has arisen, or will arise, I should say, effective January 2025. So in due course, the corresponding decisions will be made. The time is not now.”
In a radio interview, New Progressive Party (NPP) alternate electoral commissioner Edwin Mundo Ríos endorsed Seilhamer for the position and said he would do everything possible to help him.
Other people said to be interested in the post are Rep. José Enrique “Quiquito” Meléndez Ortiz, and Sen. William Villafañe Ramos.
The vacancy for resident commissioner occurred after Jenniffer González Colón made official her bid to challenge Pierluisi in the NPP primaries.
Regarding the situation in San Sebastián and the disaffiliations that occurred last week led by Mayor Javier Jiménez Pérez, Pierluisi said he is not worried.
“I’m not surprised that one or another person very close to the mayor follows him in that direction, but I’m not worried in the least,” the governor said. “It is a municipality that we are going to win.”
A meeting held last Friday on the matter was attended by NPP Electoral Commissioner Vanessa Santo Domingo Cruz; Mundo Ríos, the alternate electoral commissioner; NPP Secretary General Hiram Torres Montalvo; Deputy Secretary Gabriel Rodríguez Aguiló; Wilson Román, the political director of the northwestern region; and San Sebastián municipal legislators.
Of the 13 NPP municipal legislators, three disaffiliated along with the mayor and deputy mayor and former NPP vice president in San Sebastián, Camilo Ortiz.
The selection of a new municipal president will be made at a later meeting.