Puerto Rico New Members 2025

Resident Commissioner-elect Pablo José Hernández Rivera (D-Puerto Rico)

Puerto Rican voters picked Pablo José Hernández Rivera as their next resident commissioner in an election where several parties split the spoils.

Hernández Rivera, 33, will take over from Republican Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González-Colón, who after eight years representing Puerto Rico in Congress will move on to La Fortaleza, the governor’s mansion.

Hernández Rivera is a Democrat at the national level and a member of the Popular Democratic Party (PPD) on the island. The PPD has historically advocated for Puerto Rico to remain a territory with self government and U.S. citizenship for its residents, vehemently opposing the New Progressive Party’s (PNP) support for statehood.

The grandson of former Gov. Rafael Hernández Colón, a former PPD president, Hernández Rivera has said he will focus on improving Puerto Rico’s economic outlook and setting aside the status question favored by González, an outspoken advocate for statehood.

Hernández Rivera won his election on a promise to oust PNP pro-statehooders, who have held the resident commissioner spot for two decades, with a focus on addressing Puerto Rico’s political status.

Puerto Ricans also voted on a nonbinding status referendum in November’s election; of the voters who participated in the referendum, 57 percent chose statehood, 31 percent chose independence and 12 percent chose independence followed by free association with the United States.

However, more than 100,000 voters who participated in the governor and resident commissioner elections declined to vote in the referendum, leading to advocates on both sides of the issue declaring victory.