LO\u00cdZA, Puerto Rico (AP) \u2014 Puerto Rican Gov. Wanda V\u00e1zquez on Sunday acknowledged losing the primary of her pro-statehood party to Pedro Pierluisi, who briefly served as the U.S. territory\u2019s governor last year amid political turmoil.<\/p>\n
With more than 78% of electoral colleges reporting late Sunday, Pierluisi received more than 57% of the vote compared with more than 42% for V\u00e1zquez.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to abide by the decision of the majority,\u201d V\u00e1zquez said in a brief speech where she warned Pierluisi that he should \u201caspire\u201d to have the support of those who voted for her. She will remain as governor until the winner of Puerto Rico\u2019s Nov. 3 general elections takes office.<\/p>\n
Pierluisi spoke shortly after V\u00e1zquez and said the governor can count on him: \u201cWe all have to be united to push Puerto Rico forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Carlos Delgado, mayor of the northwest town of Isabela for 20 years, was poised to win by a landslide the nomination of the main opposition Popular Democratic Party. Conceding defeat was Puerto Rico Sen. Eduardo Bhatia and San Juan Mayor Carmen Yul\u00edn Cruz, known for her public spats with U.S. President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n
With more than 68% of electoral colleges reporting, Delgado had received more than 60% of the vote.<\/p>\n
The results come one week after delayed and missing ballots led to a chaotic primary that forced a second round of voting on Sunday in which thousands of Puerto Ricans got a second chance to vote for the first time.<\/p>\n
Voting centers in nearly 50 of the island\u2019s 78 municipalities opened following a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that stated a second round of voting would take place at centers that never opened on Aug. 9 or did not remain open the required eight hours.<\/p>\n
The opening of at least one voting center in the north coastal town of Lo\u00edza was delayed by more than one hour as dozens of voters grumbled about having to stand in the heat with masks over their faces.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe expected that there wouldn\u2019t be any problems,\u201d said Santiago Jim\u00e9nez, a 68-year-old retiree, adding that some people left.<\/p>\n
Jannette Ledoux, coordinator for the unit where the voting center was located, told The Associated Press that the problem was a result of four volunteers quitting late Saturday, delaying the required ballot counting before the doors opened.<\/p>\n
Once voting got underway, one elderly woman emerged after casting her ballot and yelled to those waiting, \u201cCome on! Come on! Let\u2019s vote! Let\u2019s vote!\u201d<\/p>\n
But not everyone could participate in Sunday\u2019s second round.<\/p>\n
The Supreme Court\u2019s ruling permanently left out voters like Eldy Correa, a 67-year-old retiree who went to her voting center in the southwest town of Cabo Rojo three times last Sunday and desisted only to find out later that it opened late.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LO\u00cdZA, Puerto Rico (AP) \u2014 Puerto Rican Gov. Wanda V\u00e1zquez on Sunday acknowledged losing the primary of her pro-statehood party to Pedro Pierluisi, who briefly served as the U.S. territory\u2019s governor last year amid political turmoil. With more than 78% of electoral colleges reporting late Sunday, Pierluisi received more than 57% of the vote compared<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":13775,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[7,1,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","category-mainstory","category-regional-and-international-news"],"yoast_head":"\n