Hau to leave Senate to fill House seat left open by death of Díaz Collazo
By The Star Staff
Popular Democratic Party (PDP) Sen. Gretchen Hau Irizarry announced Thursday her decision to leave her Guayama District seat in the upper chamber to fill the seat in the House of Representatives left by the late José Aníbal Díaz Collazo.
“That question is about the future; I don’t like to speculate, I like to concentrate on the work that is before me,” Hau said in an interview with Red Informativo.
“Always the detractors will not agree with the decisions that one can make, so I appreciate and respect their opinion,” the senator said in response to criticism of the alleged motives behind her decision to move from the upper to the lower chamber.
Hau rejected speculation that her decision to change seats is a strategy for a future mayoral run in Cayey when current Mayor Rolando Ortiz Velázquez decides to retire.
The PDP announced that documents will be received until Saturday from candidates for the Senate vacancy left by Hau’s departure, for a special election through an assembly of delegates.
The names of former senators Cirilo Tirado Rivera and Ángel Rodríguez Otero, as well as that of former representative Carmen “Ciela” González González, are being mentioned as possible candidates to fill the seat to be left open by Hau’s resignation.