By The Star Staff
As most primary campaigns wrapped up at various sites around the island on Sunday, Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia’s campaign director, Edwin Mundo Ríos, gave assurances that the New Progressive Party (NPP) has a team of lawyers ready to defend the party on June 2, when eligible voters will select their preferred candidate to represent the NPP in the election race for governor.
“We attach great importance to our electoral component, and that is why we are trying to have a team of lawyers who support our electoral commissioners and [polling station] officials,” Mundo said early in the day. “This group is trained and ready for the fight we face in eight days and the one we will face in November.”
Sunday was Pierluisi’s campaign closing. His opponent, Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González Colón, did not have a campaign closing and instead took her On the Street tour to Bayamón with Mayor Ramón Luis Rivera Cruz.
During a press briefing following a training session with Pierluisi’s legal team, Ferdinand Ocasio, a lawyer who is the team leader for the primary, highlighted the team’s comprehensive coverage. He said the team has representatives for all electoral precincts, votes in prisons, and for every step of the process before and after the primary. He further emphasized that the team comprises more than 125 lawyers, ensuring a robust defense of the party’s votes.
“Our governor’s legal team, many of whom have been involved in the processes since the 2016 primary, continues to grow and adapt,” Ocasio said, highlighting the team’s commitment to maintaining a strong legal defense. “We are fortunate to have new colleagues joining us, ready to step in for those who, due to vacation or professional commitments, cannot participate in this particular event. We are confident that on June 3, the team will be even stronger when those from the other campaign join us.”
Meanwhile, at Pierluisi’s campaign closing at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in Hato Rey, Rep. Jorge Navarro urged followers to attend the event, which was full of white tarps with food and water. Supporters were dressed in blue and white. Former Gov. Pedro Rosselló attended the event, which began at 2 p.m.
“This is not a campaign closing but a shakeup,” Navarro said.
The campaign featured Joseph Fonseca, Limi-T 21 and Algarete.
It has been 20 years since Río Grande has had an NPP mayor, and this time around Pablo Ramos, the pro-statehood party’s candidate, hopes to win. Ramos said the work that has been done in the city, has taken place because of Pierluisi.
Officials in Loíza also said the work that has been done in that municipality has been driven by Pierluisi’s work.
Luis de Jesús, the NPP candidate for a district seat in the House of Representatives that covers Río Grande, Loíza and Canóvanas, urged people to give the NPP the legislative majority and the same in the towns.
“Pierluisi is the governor we deserve and has brought progress,” he said. “The governor is the only candidate.”
On the Popular Democratic Party (PDP) side, gubernatorial candidate Rep. Jesús Manuel Ortiz González held his campaign closing in Carolina, along with resident commissioner hopeful Pablo José Hernández and other top PDP leaders after caravans that took them to Río Grande, Luquillo and Loíza.
Ortiz González’s primary rival, Sen. Juan Zaragoza Gómez, held his campaign closing in Aguadilla with the support of Mayor Julio Roldán. Senate President José Luis Dalmau Santiago was present. Zaragoza Gómez reaffirmed his conviction that he is the only figure, not only with the administrative capacity to lead the island government, but also to defeat the NPP in the general elections.
“I am convinced that God has given me the tools, in addition to the courage, which I demonstrated during my years in front of the Department of the Treasury,” said the candidate.
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