SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) – A passionate advocate for making Puerto Rico the 51st U.S. state appears poised to become the next governor of the territory, giving a boost to a movement that has been gaining momentum amid the island’s economic woes.
Ricardo Rossello, a scientist and the son of a former governor of the island, is expected to win Tuesday largely due to widespread public anger over the decade-long recession and a corruption scandal that has left the party of his main opponent in disarray.
But Rossello intends to make joining the union the central focus of his administration if he takes office. “We’re going to fight for statehood,” he said.
The 37-year-old candidate, who has spent more than a quarter of his life on the U.S. mainland and flies an American flag outside his home near San Juan, sees statehood as the key to reviving an island that is such an economic basket case that Congress imposed a fiscal oversight board this year in exchange for helping the territory’s government dig out from $70 billion in public debt.
Puerto Ricans remain divided over whether to try to change their relationship to the U.S., and Congress appears lukewarm to the idea of adding two new senators and a handful of representatives from the island of 3.5 million people.