Which national party platform contained this statement from 200 to 2012?
“We support the right of the United States citizens of Puerto Rico to be admitted to the Union as a fully sovereign state if they freely so determine. We recognize that Congress has the final authority to define the constitutionally valid options for Puerto Rico to achieve a permanent non-territorial status with government by consent and full enfranchisement. As long as Puerto Rico is not a State, however, the will of its people regarding their political status should be ascertained by means of a general right of referendum or specific referenda sponsored by the U.S. government.”
Hint: they changed it to this in 2012:
“We support the right of the United States citizens of Puerto Rico to be admitted to the Union as a fully sovereign state. We further recognize the historic significance of the 2012 local referendum in which a 54 percent majority voted to end Puerto Rico’s current status as a U.S. territory, and 61 percent chose statehood over options for sovereign nationhood. We support the federally sponsored political status referendum authorized and funded by an Act of Congress in 2014 to ascertain the aspirations of the people of Puerto Rico. Once the 2012 local vote for statehood is ratified, Congress should approve an enabling act with terms for Puerto Rico’s future admission as the 51st state of the Union.”
If you guessed that was the Democratic Party platform, you’re mistaken. Until 2024, the Republican Party called for statehood for Puerto Rico. In 2024, the platform said Puerto Rico should have “greater participation in all aspects of the political process,” a statement consistent with statehood but not with independence or territory status. Since free associated states don’t have any participation in the U.S. political process, statehood is really the only political status they could be thinking of.
If you’re a Republican, your party supports statehood for Puerto Rico.
What about the Democrats?
While there have been Republican leaders during this century who have claimed that once Puerto Rico is a state the GOPs would never again be in power, Democratic legislators have not all supported statehood for Puerto Rico. There have been U.S. stateside Democratic legislators who wanted independence or even “commonwealth.” The Democratic Party platform has generally called for “self-determination” for Puerto Rico, although statehood has always been included among the desirable outcomes.
Having voted for statehood in four successive status votes, Puerto Rico has obviously already determined for itself what political status it wants. The current Democratic Party platform recognizes this and calls for reintroduction of the Puerto Rico Status Act. There was also a resolution favoring statehood in 2025. Democrats in the rank and file also support statehood. In fact, about two thirds Americans in general have supported statehood since the 1960s — but the most recent poll shows 83% of Democrats in favor.
James Carville, a long-time Democratic strategist, is through pussy-footing around. “If the Democrats win the presidency and both houses of Congress,” he said, “I think on day one, they should make Puerto Rico [and] D.C. a state.”
What does this mean for you?
Are you a Republican? Then, for national security and the international prestige of our nation, you should support Puerto Rico statehood. Are you a Democrat? Then for justice and equality, you should support Puerto Rico statehood. If you are an American supporting either party or neither one, you should support Puerto Rico statehood because government by consent of the people is one of our most cherished foundational principles. Reach out to your legislators and let them know that statehood for Puerto Rico is important.
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