Luis Fortuño
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Luis G. Fortuño
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 2, 2009 |
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| Preceded by | Aníbal Acevedo Vilá |
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| In office January 3, 2005 – January 1, 2009 |
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| Preceded by | Aníbal Acevedo Vilá |
| Succeeded by | Pedro Pierluisi |
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| In office June 22, 1980 – 1981 |
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| Preceded by | Kenneth McClintock |
| Succeeded by | Oreste R. Ramos |
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| Born | October 31, 1960 San Juan, Puerto Rico |
| Political party | New Progressive Party |
| Spouse | Lucé Vela |
| Children | Maria Luisa Luis Roberto Guillermo |
| Alma mater | Georgetown University University of Virginia |
| Profession | Attorney |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Website | U.S. House of Representatives Fortuño's Campaign Website |
Luis Guillermo Fortuño-Burset (born October 31, 1960 in San Juan, Puerto Rico) is the ninth and current Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a semi-autonomous unincorporated territory of the United States.[1] He was the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico to the United States Congress, from 2005 to 2008, and was the second Republican Representative elected from Puerto Rico in history.[2]
Fortuño is the president of the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico (NPP) and a member of the United States Republican Party. He was also the Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Conference and the Ranking Member of the newly-created United States House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Insular Affairs.
Fortuño became the New Progressive Party's 2008 gubernatorial candidate after winning the NPP primary held on March 9, 2008 by a 3-to-2 margin. Fortuño was elected Governor of Puerto Rico the night of November 4, 2008, taking office on January 2, 2009.
Fortuño was the first Republican to be elected Governor of Puerto Rico since 1969, and the second Republican governor since 1949.[2]
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[edit] Education and early life
Fortuño attended Colegio Marista of Guaynabo, graduating in 1977. He then received a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service (B.S.F.S.) degree from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. In 1985, he received a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from the University of Virginia School of Law. During this period, Fortuño was an intern at the Office of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in Washington, D.C..
While in college, Luis Fortuño co-founded the Puerto Rico Statehood Students Association (PRSSA) with Kenneth McClintock and presided it from 1980 to 1981.[3] During the 1980 gubernatorial election recount, the over 1,500 absentee ballots generated by PRSSA and Fortuño for incumbent Governor Carlos Romero Barceló was an important factor in his reelection by an approximately 3,000-vote margin.[4] Fortuño was also active in other pro-statehood youth organizations and in the Republican Party. He is married to attorney Luce Vela Gutierrez and has triplets, Maria Luisa, Luis Roberto and Guillermo, who were born in 1991.
[edit] Public service
Fortuño entered public service in 1993 at the start of Governor Pedro Rosselló's administration. He was first appointed Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company and President of Puerto Rico's Hotel Development Corporation (HDC). In 1994, he became Puerto Rico's first Secretary of the Puerto Rico Department of Economic Development and Commerce.
Fortuño was tasked with the development and implementation of large-scale reforms of Puerto Rico's tax, labor, corporate and commercial codes, aimed at facilitating business growth and job creation, reducing bureaucracy, and tax reform. Fortuño succeeded in the adoption of the Uniform Commercial Code, the revamping of the General Corporations Law, an aggressive investment package to jumpstart the tourism industry, and the largest tax cut in Puerto Rico's history.
Fortuño was named 1996 Man of the Year by Caribbean Business, 1995 Public Servant of the Year by the Marketing Industry and Distribution of Food and Beverage Products Association of Puerto Rico, 1994 Public Servant of the Year by the Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce, and 1994 Distinguished Executive by the Sales and Marketing Executives Association of Ponce and the Southern Region of Puerto Rico. He served on numerous boards of directors, including the Ana G. Méndez University System and the Puerto Rico Museum of Art. He is a member of the American Law Institute and the Urban Land Institute.
In 1996, he served on the Platform Committee at the Republican National Convention, where he was successful in including the support for self-determination and eventual statehood for Puerto Rico in the party platform. Fortuño resigned his cabinet posts after Rosselló's reelection in 1996 and returned to private law practice.
[edit] Private practice
Following public service, Fortuño was a partner at the San Juan law firm of Correa, Collazo, Herrero, Jiménez & Fortuño specializing in corporate finance and real estate law. Prior to joining Correa, Collazo, Herrero, Jiménez & Fortuño, he was a partner at McConnell Valdés. He was briefly mentioned as a possible candidate for Governor of Puerto Rico in 1999 for the New Progressive Party after Governor Rosselló announced he would not seek a third term in the 2000 election cycle.
[edit] Political career
[edit] 2004 Campaign for Resident Commissioner
Fortuño decided to seek the New Progressive Party's nomination for the post of Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico late in the primaries. He won the November 2003 primaries with 61.28% of votes and defeated former senator Miriam Ramirez de Ferrer (4.26% of votes), former Senate President Charlie Rodriguez (6.29% of votes), and former Governor and Resident Commissioner Carlos Romero Barceló (25.78% of votes).
After winning the primary, he picked up momentum within the Republican Party ranks in the U.S. when he received the endorsement of Ed Gillespie, head of the Republican National Committee. Fortuño was the running mate of former Governor Rosselló, who returned for a third bid as the NPP's candidate for Governor.
In the elections of 2004, Fortuño was victorious (48.5% of votes) over his main rival candidate Roberto Prats (48% of votes) of the Popular Democratic Party (PDP). However, Fortuño's running mate Rosselló lost his bid for the governor's seat to then Resident Commissioner Aníbal Acevedo Vilá by less than 4,000 votes. This meant that Fortuño would be the Resident Commissioner under Governor Acevedo Vilá of the PDP. This is the first time in Puerto Rican history that the Governor of Puerto Rico and the Resident Commissioner are not from the same political party.
[edit] Resident Commissioner
Upon the commencement of the 109th Congress, Fortuño was elected by his colleagues to serve as vice-president of the House Republican freshman class. He served as vice-chair of the Congressional Hispanic Conference during the 109th Congress and as chair during the 110th Congress. House Resources Committee Ranking Member Don Young appointed him in January 2007 as the Republican minority's Ranking Member in the Subcommittee on Insular Affairs for the 110th Congress. Fortuño cosponsored the Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2007, which would give Puerto Ricans the option to become a US state or sovereign state. In October, 2007, Fortuño filed legislation, along with Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) to assure the continued operation of the Arecibo Radiotelescope.
Fortuño was re-elected by the Republican Party of Puerto Rico's General Assembly to continue serving as National Committeeman, a position he has held since 2001. He won reelection as National Committeeman in the GOP convention held on May 20, 2007 in Yauco, Puerto Rico.
In 2007, Fortuño joined Rep. José Serrano (D-NY) and 128 other co-sponsors in filing HR 900, the Puerto Rico Democracy Act, to establish a self-determination process leading to political status change for Puerto Rico. The bill was amended and approved in a voice vote by the House's Committee on Resources on October 23, a major victory for Fortuño.
[edit] Gubernatorial campaign
A poll taken before Fortuño Burset announced his gubernatorial bid in February 2007 suggests he is the most well-liked public figure in the NPP. The poll, taken by Gaither International at the request of Caribbean Business newspaper, indicated that Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, Fortuño's likely opponent, would fare badly in the general election. Another poll released in May 2007 and taken by Kaagan Research Associates, Inc. at the request of El Nuevo Día, a major circulation newspaper, showed Fortuño with a 46% to 25% advantage over incumbent Governor Acevedo Vilá. On May 16, 2007 poll also showed Fortuño winning a primary election against Pedro Rosselló 49% to 37%.
On February 19, 2007, Fortuño Burset announced his candidacy for Governor of Puerto Rico for the 2008 general election. Fortuño Burset faced former 2004 running mate and former Gov. Pedro Juan Rosselló González in an NPP primary on March 9, 2008 which he won by a 60% to 40% margin.
On May 18, 2007 Fortuño announced that former Attorney General Pedro Pierluisi would be his running mate and run for Fortuño's current office of Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico. Pierluisi Urrutia was a classmate at Colegio Marista, a fellow member of the Puerto Rico Statehood Students Association and also a fellow cabinet member of Fortuño's during former Governor Rosselló's first term from 1993 to 1996.
On March 9, 2008, Fortuño easily defeated Rosselló, becoming the new president of the PNP and its official candidate for Governor.[1] Fortuño won the candidacy by obtaining nearly 60% of primary votes. Fortuño's running mate and now official candidate for Resident Commissioner, Pedro Pierluisi, also won his primary.[1]
On November 4, 2008, Luis Fortuño became the ninth Governor elect of Puerto Rico by popular election winning by over 220,000 votes, the largest victory margin in 44 years and giving the New Progressive Party its largest victory in history. Also he became the second governor to get more than a million votes, after Pedro Rosselló's reelection in 1996. Accompanied with his victory, the party gained control of the legislature by historic margins and the majority of mayoralties, and with it the power to name 3 Supreme Court judges that for the first time in history would give NPP appointees a majority on the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico. With this win the NPP also can name various long-term posts, including the Comptroller, the Ombudsman and the Director of the Government Ethics Office.
[edit] Gubernatorial Inauguration
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This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2009) |
Gov. Fortuño was sworn into office on January 2, 2009, at a ceremony attended by five of the U.S. territory's six living governors---Fortuño, Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, Sila M. Calderón, Carlos Romero Barceló and Rafael Hernández Colón.
The event was initially led by the outgoing Secretary of State Fernando Bonilla and then by incoming Secretary of State Kenneth McClintock.[citation needed] Among the thousands of attendees of the event were singer Marc Anthony and his wife, actress and singer Jennifer López, White House Director of Intergovernmemntal Affairs Director Janet Creighton and the head of Intergovernmental Affairs for President-Elect Barack Obama's transition team, Nick Rathod. Foreign dignitaries included Dominican Republic President Leonel Fernández and the president of Dominica, Nicholas Liverpool.
After his inaugural address, Fortuño walked from the Capitol to La Fortaleza. In the evening, a free concert in Old San Juan which and a state dinner hosted by the Secretary of State-designate were held.
[edit] Emerging Administration
Immediately after the November 4, 2008 general election, the Governor-Elect began the formation of an emerging administration. On November 7, as president of the New Progressive Party, he chaired the caucuses that selected Senator-elect Thomas Rivera Schatz as the new Senate President and Representative Jennifer González as the new House Speaker. On November 9, he announced the appointment of outgoing Senate President Kenneth McClintock as the head of the incoming administration's Transition Committee.[5]
On November 11, he began announcing the members of his Cabinet and other administration officials, which will include[6]:
- Kenneth McClintock as Secretary of State[7]
- Juan Carlos Blanco as Chief of Staff
- Antonio Sagardía as Attorney General
- Juan Carlos Puig as Secretary of the Treasury
- Jaime Rivera Dueño as Secretary of Health
- Carlos Chardón as Secretary of Education
- Rubén Hernández Gregorat as Secretary of Transportation and Public Works
- Javier Rivera Aquino as Secretary of Agriculture
- José R. Pérez-Riera as Secretary of Economic Development and Commerce
- Miguel Romero as Secretary of Labor
- Carlos Molina as Secretary of Correction
- Luis G. Rivera-Marín as Secretary of Consumer Affairs
- Wilfredo J. Maldonado as Secretary of Family Services
- Henry Neumann as Secretary of Sports and Recreation
- Daniel I. Galán Kercadó as Secretary of Natural Resources and Environment
- Yesef Cordero Lebrón as Secretary of Housing
- Alejandro Figueroa as Secretary of Public Policy
- Jennifer Aponte as Ombudsman
- Johanne Vélez as Women's Affairs Director
- Jorge Más Marrero as Veterans' Affairs Director
- Frederick Muhlach as Special Communities Coordinator
- Javier Vázquez Morales as Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company
- Pedro Nieves Miranda as President of the Environmental Quality Board
- Richard Figueroa as Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration
- Jaime González Goenaga as President of the Roosevelt Roads Local Redevelopment Authority
- Velmarie Berlingeri as Administrator of the Executive Mansion (La Fortaleza)
- Jaime López Díaz as Director of Tourism
- Héctor Morales Vargas as Chairman of the Puerto Rico Planning Board
- María A. Sánchez Bras as Director of the Office of Management and Budget
- Zoimé Alvarez Rubio as President of the Workmens Compensation Corporation
- Alvaro Pilar as Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Ports Authority
- Carlos M. García as President of the Puerto Rico Government Development Bank
- Lizzie Rosso as President of the Puerto Rico Economic Development Bank
- Omar Negrón Judice as Commissioner of Municipal Affairs
- Mayra López as Administrator of Families and Children
- Gen. Antonio Vicens as Adjutant General of the Puerto Rico National Guard
- María T. Fullana as President of the Puerto Rico Public Service Commission
- Ramón Cruz as Insurance Commissioner
- Edwin Kiess as Executive Director of the Infrastructure Financing Authority
- Luis Bernal as Director of the Energy Office and the Puerto Rico Solid Waste Authority
- Benjamín Rodríguez as Chief of the Puerto Rico Fire Department
- Heriberto Saurí as Director of Emergency Management
- Jacinto Desiderio Ortiz as Director of the 911 Center
- Miguel Cordero as Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority
- Dr. María Conte as Executive Director of the Forensic Studies Institute
- Rev. Aníbal Heredia Burgos as Director of the Faith-Based Community Organizations Office
- José Ortiz retained as President of the Puerto Rico Aqueducts and Sewers Authority
- Gilberto Marxuach as the Governor's Legal Counsel
- Maritere Brignoni as Director of the Governor's Nominations and Judicial Nominations Office
- Annie Mayol as Assistant to the Governor for Federal Affairs
- José Enrique Meléndez Ortiz, Sr. as Assistant to the Governor for Municipal Affairs
- José Ricardo Otero as Assistant to the Governor for Economic Development
- Javier R. Varela as Assistant to the Governor for Public Safety and Justice
- Miguel Hernández Vivoni as Legislative Assistant to the Governor
- Juan Eugenio Rodríguez de Hostos as Chief Information Officer
- Ramón González Beiró as Chairman of the Agricultural Productivity Council
- Carmen Teresa Ruiz de Fischler as Executive Director of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture
- José Ramón De La Torre as Chairman of the Board of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture
- Gonzalo Córdova as Chairman of the Board of the Corporation for Musical Arts
- Myrna Casas as General Manager of the Luis A. Ferré Center for the Performing Arts
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Yaisha Vargas (2008-03-09). "Fortuno Wins Puerto Rico Primary". Associated Press. Retrieved on 2008-03-09.
- ^ a b Whittington, Lauren W. (2008-11-04). "Fortuño Elected Puerto Rico Governor", Roll Call. Retrieved on 5 November 2008.
- ^ http://www.statehoodpr.org/lfortuno.html Luis Fortuno's PRSSA Profile
- ^ http://www.statehoodpr.org/history.html PRSSA History
- ^ http://www.elnuevodia.com/diario/noticia/politica/noticias/mcclintock_lider_de_la_transicion/487298
- ^ http://www.elnuevodia.com/diario/noticia/puertoricohoy/noticias/se_le_acaba_el_tiempo_a_fortuno/511129
- ^ http://www.elnuevodia.com/diario/noticia/politica/noticias/mcclintock_a_la_secretaria_de_estado/488273
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Luis Fortuño |
- Luis Fortuño at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Luis Fortuño's official 2008 campaign site for Governor of Puerto Rico (Spanish)
- Luis Fortuño's MySpace site
- Carribbean Business article on Dec. 2006 Caribbean Business/Gaither/WOSO poll
- General profile 2008
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Aníbal Acevedo Vilá |
Governor of Puerto Rico 2009 – present |
Incumbent |
| United States House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by Aníbal Acevedo Vilá |
Resident Commissioner to the U.S. House of Representatives from Puerto Rico 2005-2009 |
Succeeded by Pedro Pierluisi |
| Order of precedence | ||
| Preceded by Pedro Pierluisi |
United States order of precedence as of 2009 |
Succeeded by James L. Jones |
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