It’s primary season, and candidates for Congress are making statements on Puerto Rico statehood. The purpose of primary debates is to choose a candidate for each political party. These people will run for office in their states in November. Puerto Rico has no voting members of Congress, and no senators at all, so primary debates often ignore Puerto Rico. However, the Island has been in the news a lot lately, and fortunately stateside politicians are becoming more aware of the importance of Puerto Rico’s political status. A Democratic primary debate in New Hampshire included a question on statehood for Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia.
Carleigh Beriont, Sarah Chadzynski, Stefany Shaheen, Maura Sullivan and Christian Urrutia are the Democratic Party candidates hoping to represent New Hampshire’s 1st District in Congress. The debate moderator asked whether they were for statehood for Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia.
“Absolutely!”
The most common answer among the candidates was “Absolutely!” Urrutia said “unquestionably,” which means the same thing, but most of the candidates used the word “absolutely.” This shows increasing support for statehood for Puerto Rico, as well as simply increasing awareness of the issue.
Beriont began with “Absolutely,” but also said, “Especially for D.C., because it’s very clear to people that D.C. wants statehood…With Puerto Rico, it’s a little bit different. They have a very different history in the United States. And so that is something that I would want to put to the people of Puerto Rico.” This answer suggests that she doesn’t know that the majority of voters in Puerto Rico have voted for statehood four times — that’s every single status vote in this century.
Puerto Rico has decided
Anti-statehood factions have made every effort to discredit these votes. Each one has had a different format, largely in response to the persistent unfounded complaints. Yet every time, there has been a clear majority in favor of statehood among all the options. Many people do not know this, and it is even unfortunately true that some Members of Congress don’t know that Puerto Rico has already chosen statehood.
Chadzynski said, “Yes. I’ve already signed on to a pledge to support D.C. statehood… And for Puerto Rico, the same. They’re a valuable and wonderful community member in our country.” She also spoke about the importance of representation, which Puerto Rico lacks.
Sullivan said, “I’ve met with some of the Puerto Rican members of our own community here. And, you know, I have pledged my support on this. And this is really, really important that people have the representation that they deserve, particularly at these incredibly difficult times in our country. So I’d absolutely support it.”
Urrutia said, “Unquestionably, yes. So I serve in the Army National Guard still. Puerto Rico and D.C. send men and women to fight our wars, to put on the uniform. They deserve statehood just like any state in this country.”
Shaheen agreed with the other candidates, saying, “We need statehood both for D.C. and for Puerto Rico. And I think it’s important to note, especially as we see the climate crisis and the natural disasters that have occurred over time, one of the big vulnerabilities for Puerto Rico is the need for infrastructure support when things go wrong. And we absolutely need to make sure they’re protected by statehood.”
Protected by statehood
Statehood offers protection for Puerto Rico. Under statehood, Puerto Rico will be fully protected by the U.S. Constitution and will have full representation and equal rights with all the existing states. There is no reason to wait any longer to admit Puerto Rico to the Union. We look forward to hearing from more candidates on Puerto Rico statehood. Reach out to the candidates in your state and make sure they have the knowledge they need to support statehood for Puerto Rico.
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