1996 San Juan, Puerto Rico, mayoral election

1996 San Juan, Puerto Rico, mayoral election

November 5, 1996

Nominee Sila María Calderón Zaida Cucusa Hernández Party PPD PNP Alliance Democratic Republican Popular vote 105,940 97,572 Percentage 50.40% 46.41%

Mayor before election Héctor Luis Acevedo Popular Democratic Elected Mayor Sila María Calderón Popular Democratic

San Juan, Puerto Rico, held an election for mayor on November 5, 1996. It was held as part of the 1996 Puerto Rican general election. It saw the election of Sila María Calderón, a member of the Popular Democratic Party.

Nominations

New Progressive Party primary

The New Progressive Party nominated speaker of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico Zaida Cucusa Hernández in a primary held by the party on April 2, 1995. This marked the first time that the party had ever held a mayoral primary.

Out of roughly 30,000 votes cast, Calderon received roughly 90% of the vote in a landslide victory, defeating Jorge de Castro (former member of the Puerto Rican House of Representatives) and Nicolas Gautier.

Popular Democratic Party

The Popular Democratic Party nominated former secretary of state of Puerto Rico Sila María Calderón.

Puerto Rican Independence Party

The Puerto Rican Independence Party nominated Irma Rodríguez

General election

This was the first mayoral election in the city's history in which the two leading candidates were both women.

Results

San Juan mayoral election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Popular Democratic	Sila María Calderón	105,940	50.40
	New Progressive	Zaida "Cucusa" Hernández	97,572	46.41
	Independence	Irma Rodríguez	5,330	2.54
	Write-In	Others	1,378	0.66
Total votes			210,220	100