“When we get into power next time,” said Democratic National Committee (DNC) chair Ken Martin in a conversation with his DNC predecessor Jaime Harrison on Harrison’s At Our Table podcast, “we damn well better make sure that DC is a state, that Puerto Rico is a state.”
“We play by the guard rules of democracy. We play by the norms of society. And while that’s great, we’ve got to realize that the other side is not doing that,” Martin said, repeating a claim he made in his speech to the DNC summer meeting. “We can’t be the only party with one hand tied behind our back.”
Martin emphasized that he believes Democrats will return to power in the midterm elections, and called for a firmer position when they do. “We get rid of all these antiquated rules that, in the past, made sense, but right now, with what we’re dealing with in this country and we have a fascist regime that’s trying to destroy our democracy, we cannot abide by those rules anymore,” he said. “We go in there and do exactly what we want and what we said we were going to do to fight for people.”
For the head of the Democratic National Committee, statehood for Puerto Rico is part of the fight to protect democracy in the United States.
Puerto Rico’s Politics
The major political parties in Puerto Rico are organized around the political status issue. Members affiliate with a local party based on their positions on Puerto Rican statehood. The two primary political parties are the New Progressive Party (Partido Nuevo Progresista, PNP) and the Popular Democratic Party (Partido Popular Democrático, PPD). The PNP is in favor of statehood and the PPD advocates “commonwealth,” an unproven, enhanced version of the current territorial status. With the notion of “commonwealth” now discredited, other smaller political parties have attracted interest as well. The Puerto Rico Independence Party (PIP) also has a small following.
While Puerto Rico does not publish numbers for registered voters in each party, a poll in August 2024 showed this distribution:
- New Progressive Party (PNP): 37%
- Popular Democratic Party (PPD): 20%
- Puerto Rico Independence Party (PIP): 5%
- Unaffiliated with any party: 26%
- Other parties, such as Proyecto Dignidad and Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana: 8%
Within Puerto Rico’s political parties, individuals have unrelated associations with national parties. Members of the Puerto Rican statehood party are affiliated nationally with Republicans as well as Democrats. For example, the current Governor of Puerto Rico, Jenniffer González-Colón and her predecessor, Pedro Pierluisi, are both members of the pro-statehood PNP. However, González-Colón is a Republican and Pierluisi is a Democrat.
Would a New State of Puerto Rico Always Vote Democratic?
Based on recent election trends, it is unclear whether Democrats would have a clear sweep of their new seats in Congress. There are two current Puerto Rican leaders elected island-wide: (1) Governor Jenniffer González-Colón, and (2) Resident Commissioner Pablo José Hernández. González-Colón affiliates with the Republican party and Hernández is a Democrat. Governor González Colón also served as Resident Commissioner for two terms, from 2017-2025. Luis Fortuño, another Republican, served as Resident Commissioner from 2005-2009 and then Puerto Rican Governor from 2009-2013.
