Luis Fortuño elected Governor of Puerto Rico
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Luis Fortuño –new Puerto Rico Governor
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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico-WHILE not quite as anticipated as the United States presidential election, the hotly contested Puerto Rico gubernatorial race came to an end last night with Resident Commissioner Luis Fortuño toppling incumbent Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá for an amazing come-from-behind victory.
According to Caribbean Net News, Governor Acevedo conceded defeat after trailing by nearly 63,000 votes. Acevedo had led by as much as 27 points during the election season, but Fortuño gained substantial ground after several charges of corruption were brought against the governor in March of this year by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
“Puerto Rico didn’t deserve to have suffered the way it has in the last years and it was you the people that said, ‘Enough already. I want a change; this has got to change. People from all political parties said today that they want a change!” Fortuño exclaimed during his victory speech.
The new governor then said he would work with all political parties in Puerto Rico to bring about his promises of lower income taxes, bilingual education in public schools and a corruption free government.
Meanwhile, Acevedo accepted his defeat at the Popular Democratic Party (PDP) headquarters in Puerta de Tierra with a speech to a room full of his ardent supporters.
~~Adz:Right~~ “I want to thank all the people who gave me their votes. Thank you for your trust, your loyalty…It was a tough battle, against all obstacles, thinkable and unthinkable obstacles, and you went through this battle with me with a lot of Puerto Rican pride,” he said.
The PDP candidate gave no indication as to his future plans after leaving the office of the governor, but did say that “nothing and no one will take away the love I feel for Puerto Rico”.
Independent and write-in candidates in the race garnered about 27,000 combined votes, nearly 5% of the total voting population.
