Senate of Puerto Rico

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Senate of Puerto Rico Senado de Puerto Rico
Type
Type	Upper house
Leadership
President of the Senate	Thomas Rivera Schatz, (PNP) since 2009
Majority Leader	Roberto Arango, (PNP) since 2009
Minority Leader	José Luis Dalmau Santiago, (PDP) since 2001
Structure
Members	31 (including 2 vacancies)
Political groups	New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico
Election
Last election	November 4, 2008
Meeting place
Capitol of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico, United States
Web site
http://www.senadopr.us/en/

The Senate of Puerto Rico (Spanish: Senado de Puerto Rico) is the upper house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The Senate is composed of 27 senators, representing eight constituent senatorial districts across the commonwealth, with two senators elected per district; an additional eleven senators are elected at-large.

The Senate, along with its members and staff, are housed in the eastern half of the Capitol Building, the Rafael Martinez Nadal Senate Annex Building, the Luis Muñoz Marín Office Building, the Antonio R. Barceló Building, the Luis A. Ferré Building and the Ramón Mellado Parsons Office Building.

Contents 1 Rules and arrangements 2 Current composition 2.1 Current leadership 2.2 Current membership 3 Summary of the November 4, 2008 elections 4 Former members 4.1 Notable former Senators 4.2 Former Senators 5 Presidents of the Senate 6 See also 7 External links

[edit] Rules and arrangements

In order to elect the members of the Senate, Puerto Rico is divided into eight senatorial districts:

• San Juan
• Bayamón
• Arecibo
• Mayagüez-Aguadilla
• Ponce
• Guayama
• Humacao
• Carolina

For each one of these districts, the people of Puerto Rico elect two senators. In addition, the people are allowed to vote for one senator at-large of their preference. The eleven at-large Senate candidates with the majority of votes integrate the rest of the Senate. Whenever the elected members of the minority costitute less than 9 members, the Constitution provides for the certification of additional "add-on" minority Senators, who will serve in an at-large capacity. Such was the case after the 2004 elections, when four defeated Popular Democratic Party (PDP) Senate candidates, one at-large, and three district candidates, were added on as at-large Senators, joining the five PDP Senators who had achieved election in their own right. This constitutional guarantee of a minimum legislative minority representation is unique to Puerto Rico among all legislatures under the American flag, incorporating an element of proportionality usually found only in proportional representation bodies.

Article III of the Constitution of Puerto Rico states that no person can be a member of the Senate unless he or she:

• is capable of reading and writing in either Spanish or English;
• is a citizen of the United States;
• has resided in Puerto Rico for at least two years immediately prior to the date of his election or appointment;
• is over thirty years of age.

Puerto Rico

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Puerto Rico

Constitution United States Constitution Puerto Rico Constitution Executive Government Governor: Luis Fortuño (PNP)(R) Executive departments Public corporations Legislature Legislature: 16th Senate President of the Senate: Thomas Rivera Schatz President pro Tempore: Margarita Nolasco Majority Leader: Roberto Arango Minority Leader: Jose Luis Dalmau Santiago House of Representatives Speaker: Jennifer González Majority Leader: Rolando Crespo Minority Leader: Héctor Ferrer Ríos Judiciary Judiciary Supreme Court Elections Elections Political Parties New Progressive Party Popular Democratic Party Political party strength Divisions Municipalities Federal Relations Federal representation United States House of Representatives Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico Pedro Pierluisi (PNP)(D) Politics of the United States Insular Cases

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[edit] Current composition

Affiliation	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)			Total
	New Progressive	Popular Democratic	Independence		Vacant
End of previous legislature	17	9	1	27	0
Begin	22	8	0	29	0
Latest voting share	72.4%	27.6%

[edit] Current leadership

Position	Name	Party	District
President of the Senate	Thomas Rivera Schatz	NPP	At-Large
President pro Tempore	Margarita Nolasco Santiago	NPP	At-Large
Majority Leader	Roberto Arango	NPP	I
Majority Whip	Larry Seilhamer Rodriguez	NPP	V
Minority Leader	José Luis Dalmau	PDP	At-Large
Minority Whip	Eduardo Bhatia	PDP	At-Large

[edit] Current membership

District	District Name	Name	Party
I	San Juan	Roberto Arango	NPP
		Kimmey Raschke Martinez
II	Bayamón	Migdalia Padilla Alvelo	NPP
		Carmelo Ríos Santiago
III	Arecibo	José Emilio González Velázquez	NPP
		Angel Martinez Santiago
IV	Mayagüez-Aguadilla	Luis Daniel Muñiz Cortes	NPP
		Evelyn Vazquez Nieves
V	Ponce	Luis A. Berdiel Rivera	NPP
		Larry Seilhamer Rodriguez
VI	Guayama	Antonio Soto Diaz	NPP
		Carlos J. Torres Torres
VII	Humacao	Jose R. Diaz Hernandez	NPP
		Luz M. Santiago Gonzalez
VIII	Carolina	Héctor Martínez Maldonado	NPP
		Lornna Soto Villanueva
At-Large		Luz Arce Ferrer	NPP
At-Large		Eduardo Bhatia	PDP
At-Large		Norma Burgos	NPP
At-Large		José Luis Dalmau	PDP
At-Large		Antonio Fas Alzamora	PDP
At-Large		Alejandro Garcia Padilla	PDP
At-Large		Sila María González Calderón	PDP
At-Large		Juan Eugenio Hernández Mayoral	PDP
At-Large		Margarita Nolasco Santiago	NPP
At-Large		Eder E. Ortiz Ortiz	PDP
At-Large		Itzamar Peña Ramirez	NPP
At-Large		Thomas Rivera Schatz	NPP
At-Large		Melinda Romero Donnelly	NPP
At-Large		Cirilo Tirado Rivera	PDP

The Office of Legislative Services is currently headed by Kevin Rivera, while Eliezer Velázquez currently serves as Superintendent of the Capitol.

[edit] Summary of the November 4, 2008 elections

Party		Pre-Election Seats	District Votes	District Seats	% of Votes	At-Large Votes	At-Large Seats	% of Votes	+/-	Total
	New Progressive	17	1,576,542	16	47.4	913,907	6	48.4	+5	22
	Popular Democratic	9	1,566,217	0	47.1	818,770	5	43.4	-4	5
	Puerto Rican Independence	1	76,555	0	0.2	82,577	0	4.4	-1	0
	Puerto Ricans for Puerto Rico	0	79,386	0	0.2	37,457	0	2.1	0	0
	Independent	0	-	0	0.0	16,269	0	0.9	0	0
	Others	0	1,572	0	0.0	549	0	0.0	0	0
Total		27	3,300,272	16		1,869,529	11			27

[edit] Former members

[edit] Notable former Senators

• Rubén Berríos Martínez (1973-1977,1985-1989,1993-2000) PIP-At Large (long-time political activist for the Puerto Rican independence movement, current president of the PIP party)
• Luis A. Ferré (1977-1984), former Governor
• Fernando Martín García (1989-1993,2001-2005) PIP-At Large
• Kenneth McClintock (1993-2008) "NPP-At Large" (Thirteenth President of the Senate 2005-2008)
• Luis Muñoz Marín (1941-48, 1965-70), former Governor
• Victoria Muñoz Mendoza (1986-1993) PDP-At Large (daughter of Luis Muñoz Marín, former gubernatorial candidate)
• Luis Negrón López, former PDP gubernatorial candidate, Senate Majority Leader and Vice President
• Héctor O'Neill García (1989-1993) NPP-Bayamón (current mayor of Guaynabo)
• Ramón Luis Rivera Cruz (1993-2001) NPP-Bayamón (current mayor of Bayamón)
• Jorge Santini Padilla (1997-2001) NPP-San Juan (current mayor of San Juan)
• Ruth FernándezPDP-At Large (Puerto Rican Singer)
• Santos P. Amadeo the "Champion of Hábeas Corpus"
• Alfonso Valdés Cobián

[edit] Former Senators

The following is a list of former Senators of Puerto Rico, along with their years of service and the senatorial district they represented.

New Progressive Party Carmen Luz Berríos Rivera (1997-2001) Guayama Norma Carranza de León (1993-2001,2003-2005) Arecibo David Cruz Vélez (1989-1993) At Large Carlos Dávila Pérez (1997-2001) Humacao Francisco González Rodríguez (1997-2001) San Juan Roger Iglesóias (1993-2001) Carolina Luisa Lebrón Burgos (1993-2000) Carolina Miguel Loiz Zayas (1993-1997) Humacao Danny López Soto (1976-1984)Carolina Víctor Loubriel Ortiz (Jan. 2-4 2005) Arecibo Víctor Marrero Padilla (1993-2000) Arecibo Aníbal Marrero Pérez (1984-2000) Bayamón Héctor Martínez Colón (1969-1973) "Ponce" José Enrique Meléndez Ortiz (1993-2001) Guayama Luis Felipe Navas de León (1993-2000) Humacao Nicolás Nogueras Cartagena (1973-1985, 1989-1996) At Large Sergio Peña Clos (1981-2005) At Large Oreste Ramos Díaz (1977-1997) San Juan Roberto Rexach Benítez (1985-1998) At Large Charles Rodríguez Colón (1993-2001) At Large Rafael Rodríguez González (1993-1997) Mayagüez-Aguadilla Enrique Rodríguez Negrón (1989-2001) At Large Rolando Silva Iglesias (1981-1996) San Juan Angel Tirado Martínez (2000-2001) Arecibo Freddie Valentín Acevedo (1993-1997) NPP-At Large Luis Felipe Vázquez Ortiz (1996-1997) San Juan Dennis Vélez Barlucea (1993-1997) Ponce Eduardo Zabala Velázquez (1993-1997) Ponce

Popular Democratic Party Eduardo Bhatia Gautier (1997-2001, 2009-) At Large Elsie Calderón de Hernández (1985-1993) Carolina Juan Cancel Ríos (1969-1976) "Arecibo" Juan Cancel Alegría (2001-2005) Carolina Miguel Deynes Soto (1973-1993) Mayagüez-Aguadilla Carlos García Goyco (1965-1968) "San Juan" Velda González de Modestti (1981-2005) At Large Ana Nisi Goyco Graciani (1981-1993) Ponce Miguel Hernández Agosto (1970-1997) At Large Sixto Hernández Serrano (2001-2006) Humacao Rafael Irizarry (2000-2005) Mayagüez-Aguadilla Luis Izquierdo (1981-1993) At Large Américo Martínez (1981-1993) Arecibo Yasmín Mejías Lugo (2001-2005) Carolina Jorge Orama Monroig (1989-1992) Ponce José Ortiz Daliot (2001-2005) San Juan Margarita Ostolaza Bey (2001-2005) San Juan Mercedes Otero de Ramos (1993-2001) At Large Joaquín Peña Peña (1985-1993) Carolina Roberto Prats Palerm (2001-2005) At Large Jorge Alberto Ramos Comas (1997-2000) Mayagüez-Aguadilla Marco Antonio Rigau (1989-1997) At Large Gilberto Rivera Ortiz (1970-1993) Humacao Juan Rivera Ortiz (1973-1993, 1996-1997) Guayama Julio Rodríguez Gómez (2002-2005) Arecibo Maribel Rodríguez Hernández (2001-2002) Arecibo Rafael Rodríguez Vargas (2001-2005) Arecibo Edgardo Rosario Burgos (1989-1993) Arecibo Jesús Santa Aponte (1977-1993) Humacao Cirilo Tirado Delgado (1989-1997) Guayama Roberto Vigoreaux Lorenzana (2001-2005) PDP-At Large

Puerto Rican Independence Party Manuel Rodríguez Orellana (2000-2001) At Large

[edit] Presidents of the Senate

Number	Image	President	Years	Party
1		Antonio R. Barceló	1917-1929	Union of Puerto Rico
2		unknown	1929-1933	unknown
3		Rafael Martínez Nadal	1933-1941	Coalition
4		Luis Muñoz Marín	1941-1948	PDP
5		Samuel R. Quiñones	1949-1968	PDP
6		Rafael Hernández Colón	1969-1972	PDP
7		Juan Cancel Ríos	1973-1976	PDP
8		Luis A. Ferré	1977-1980	NPP
9		Miguel Hernández Agosto	1981-1992	PDP
10		Roberto Rexach Benítez	1993-1996	NPP
11		Charlie Rodríguez	1997-2000	NPP
12		Antonio Fas Alzamora	2001-2004	PDP
13		Kenneth McClintock	2005-2008	NPP
14		Thomas Rivera Schatz	2009-present	NPP

[edit] See also

• 15th Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico

[edit] External links

• The Puerto Rican Senate official site (Spanish)
• The Puerto Rican Senate official site (English)
• The Office of Legislative Services / Oficina de Servicios Legislativos (Spanish)
• The Office of Legislative Services / Oficina de Servicios Legislativos (English)

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