Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro García Padilla may not run for reelection and may set up his secretary of state to succeed him, according to sources in the Puerto Rico House and Senate.
If he decides not to run, Secretary of State David Bernier may seek to be the next nominee of the governor’s party, the Popular Democratic Party, according to the sources.
According to traditional readings of Puerto Rico law, candidates for the gubernatorial election scheduled for November 2016 have until Dec. 1 to register their candidacy. Puerto Rico law also says that other than the governor himself, those who register must not have been in leading positions in the government for at least 30 days prior to registering.
According to the El Vocero new web site and to members of the Puerto Rico House and Senate, some members of the government are saying anonymously that Bernier intends to resign by Oct. 31 to prepare to run for the PDP nomination. This primary vote would normally happen in June.
According to El Vocero, there are plans to make Puerto Rico Secretary of Justice Cesar Miranda the new Secretary of State if Bernier were to resign.
Over the last few months García Padilla has repeatedly stated his intention to run for reelection. On Wednesday, Lilliam Maldonado, spokeswoman for Puerto Rico House Rep. Jesús Santa Rodriguez, said the governor reiterated this position recently. Santa Rodriguez is in the same party as García Padilla.
However, on Wednesday a source in Puerto Rico Senate told The Bond Buyer that several Puerto Rico mayors in the PDP have said that the governor has insufficient public support and have asked him to reconsider his candidacy. The senate source, who is a member of the PDP, said she thought it likely that the governor will choose not to run and set up Bernier to run.
It is possible that Bernier may resign prior to Oct. 31 without the governor being certain of his plans and just so that Bernier would be prepared for the possibility of the governor’s departure, sources said. Another possibility is that the governor may announce his intention not to run in January and the PDP may argue that given the circumstances it will be legal for Bernier to enter the race.
If the governor chooses Bernier to run in the PDP primary election, then others will also run, the Senate source said. She mentioned Puerto Rico Senate President Eduardo Bhatia Gautier and San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz as probable candidates in this scenario.
The governor may run for reelection unopposed in his party and then, after the primary, announce his decision not to seek another term, the Senate source said. If this happened, there would be no time to set a new primary and the PDP would simply nominate the governor’s choice, David Bernier, she said.
While in office Bernier has “done nothing,” the Senate source said. “That’s why people love him.” The governor has deliberately kept him apart from the making difficult decisions like increasing taxes, cutting government worker pensions and proposing a 16% value added tax. These decisions along with an economy that remains “very hard” is why many Puerto Ricans dislike the governor, she said.
Bernier has spent most of his career as a dentist. Puerto Rico organizes an Olympic team separately from that of the United States and he was president of the Olympic committee before becoming Puerto Rico Secretary of State.
