SAN JUAN — Puerto Rican Gov. Ricardo Rossello, a Democrat, insisted the island territory may be more likely to become a stronghold for congressional Republicans than a blue state.
“There is this narrative, and this coming from a Democrat, that Puerto Rico would be a Democratic state,” Rosello told the Washington Examiner during an interview at the governor’s mansion over the weekend. “I would caution against that narrative.”
Rosello, who has been in office for nearly five months, pointed to Alaska and Hawaii as an example of misunderstood voting bases. Both states became states in tandem because the Alaska was expected to be swing Democratic, while Hawaii was presumed to be a GOP stronghold. Ultimately, both states swung in the opposite directions.
“We really have the behavior of a swing state. I would venture to say that on the district side, you’d probably get more Republicans or at least half Republicans on the onset,”Rosello said. “I see Puerto Rico as a battleground state.”
The second generation Puerto Rican governor said Republicans on the mainland ought to support the island’s June 11 referendum for statehood. Despite Democrats’ not acting to make Puerto Rico the 51st state during their House and Senate majorities in the Obama era, Rossello said the U.S. stands to benefit from adding Puerto Rico and Republicans know it.
“The numbers are completely against that argument,” said Rossello. “The reality is that Puerto Rico and Puerto Ricans and the U.S. citizens beside Puerto Rico stand to benefit much more … from becoming a state. History shows a bigger economy pushes forward a smaller economy.”
Puerto Rico could also serve as a “nexus to the rest of the Americas,” the governor proposed.
“Are we really happy? Are we satisfied as U.S. citizens that the greatest nation that fights for — represents freedom and liberty and democracy in the world is the holder of the largest and oldest colonial territory in the world? Is that consistent with our message? To me, as an American citizen, it is not,” he added.
