Carmen Yulín Cruz

[9] Eight years later, Cruz ran again for the Puerto Rico House of Representatives, this time for an islandwide at-large seat, at the 2008 elections, after nomination in the PDP primaries.[13] At the Popular Democratic Party primaries in 2012, Cruz led all of the candidates to the House of Representatives in votes, followed by fellow soberanista (sovereigntist) Luis Vega Ramos.[14] On the original result, she had 217,162 votes counted, which surpassed the incumbent House of Representatives President Jennifer González, with a reported 216,087 in the NPP[clarification needed] primaries.[15] Cruz Soto began hinting at her interest in running for the mayorship of her native city of San Juan in early 2011, but decided to step down when opposed by the conservadores,[16] led by Popular Democratic Party president Alejandro García Padilla, who named the second in-command of that wing, representative Héctor Ferrer, to occupy the position.However, her name resurfaced following the resignation of Ferrer, who was forced to abandon the race due to a domestic abuse incident which led to a formal investigation.[24] In contrast to the majority of the candidates for any mayorship, she has expressed not believing in the "perpetuation of office", noting that eight years should be enough to fulfill a development plan, if executed correctly.[25] On May 4, 2012, she attended a Service Employees International Union conference and held a meeting with Jim Messina, campaign director for President Barack Obama, to discuss health care and education funds, citing that "it is important to take stances in US politics, since half of all Puerto Ricans live there".[26] During this visit, Cruz also negotiated the establishment of a Chicago-San Juan alliance with the Puerto Rican community there, led by congressman Luis Gutierrez.[37] In a three-way race she failed to secure the PDP nomination,[38] finishing third behind Isabela mayor Carlos Delgado Altieri and senator Eduardo Bhatia.
Cruz' campaign headquarters two days before the 2012 elections
Spanish namesurnameMayor of San JuanJorge SantiniMiguel RomeroPuerto Rico House of RepresentativesSan JuanPopular DemocraticIndependentDemocraticBoston UniversityCarnegie Mellon UniversityPuerto RicanHouse of Representatives of Puerto RicoUniversity of Puerto Rico Secondary Schoolpolitical scienceCum LaudeHeinz CollegeSila María CalderónDistrict 1representative2000 general elections2008 electionsPDP primariesSanturcePopular Democratic Party primaries in 2012Luis Vega RamosAlejandro García PadillaHéctor FerrerEl Nuevo DíaPrimera HoraService Employees International UnionJim MessinaBarack ObamaLuis Gutierrez2012 mayoral electionFelisa Rincón de GautierSila CalderónRío PiedrasUniversity of Puerto Rico2016 mayoral election2020 mayoral electionsHurricane MariaDonald TrumpmaydaygenocideFox NewsFederal Emergency Management AgencyBrock LongAl Greendog whistleKirsten GillibrandEd MarkeyElizabeth WarrenDon Beyer2020 Puerto Rico gubernatorial electionIsabelaCarlos Delgado AltieriBernie SandersMount Holyoke CollegePeople en EspañolRidenhour Truth-Telling AwardEssenceUniversity of Sacred HeartList of Puerto RicansHistory of women in Puerto RicoAssociated Press