Jenniffer González

Jenniffer González
Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico
Elect
Taking office
January 2, 2017
Succeeding Pedro Pierluisi
Chair of the Republican Party of Puerto Rico
Assumed office
November 1, 2015
Deputy Abel Nazario
Preceded by Carlos Méndez
29th Speaker of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico
In office
January 2, 2009 – January 2, 2013
Governor Luis Fortuño
Preceded by José Aponte Hernández
Succeeded by Jaime Perelló
Minority Leader of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico
In office
January 12, 2013 – January 2, 2017
Governor Alejandro García Padilla
Preceded by Luis Raúl Torres
Vice-Chairperson of the New Progressive Party
Assumed office
May 9, 2009
Preceded by Miriam J. Ramírez de Ferrer
First Vice-Chairperson of the Republican Party of Puerto Rico
In office
2007 – November 1, 2015
Succeeded by Abel Nazario
At-Large Member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives
Assumed office
January 2, 2005
Member of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico for the 4th District
In office
February 28, 2002 – January 2, 2005
Preceded by Edison Misla Aldarondo
Succeeded by Liza Fernández Rodríguez
Personal details
Born Jenniffer Aydin González Colón
(1976-08-05) August 5, 1976
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Political party New Progressive Party
Republican Party of Puerto Rico
Alma mater University of Puerto Rico
Inter American University of Puerto Rico
Occupation Lawyer, public servant
Nickname(s) JGo

Jenniffer Aydin González Colón[lower-alpha 1] (born August 5, 1976) is a politician that has occupied numerous leadership positions in the New Progressive Party (PNP in Spanish). She is also the current Chairwoman of the Puerto Rico Republican Party. Today, González serves in three prominent roles: as Minority Leader of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico, as vice-chair of the PNP, and as the chair of the Puerto Rico Republican Party.[1][2] Before serving in these roles, she was elected by her peers as the 29th Speaker of the House—becoming the youngest person to hold that post at the age of thirty-two.[3][4]

In December of 2015, González filed her candidacy to the PNP nomination for Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico's sole non-voting seat in Congress. On June 5, 2016, she won the NPP nomination for Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico. On November 8, 2016, she became the first woman and youngest person to be elected as Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico in the U.S. Congress.[5]

Early life and education

González was born in San Juan to Jorge González and Nydia Colón, both lifelong public servants. She graduated from University Gardens High School and then studied her Bachelors Degree in Political Science at the University of Puerto Rico. Subsequently, she obtained both her juris doctor and an LL.M. from the Inter American University School of Law [6]

Representative

González was first elected to the House of Representatives in a special election held on February 24, 2002, to fill the vacancy left by former House Speaker Edison Misla Aldarondo, after his resignation as Representative from San Juan's 4th District. She was the first female elected representative of San Juan's Fourth District, the youngest member of the 14th Legislative Assembly, and the youngest woman ever to be elected to the Puerto Rico Legislative Assembly. Before being elected as Representative, González served as Chairwoman of the San Juan New Progressive Party Youth Organization and was very active in the Pro-Statehood Students movement while attending college.

González was re-elected in the 2004 Puerto Rico general elections, this time as an At-Large Representative. She served as Chairwoman of the House Government Affairs Committee, and as ranking member of the Budget, San Juan Development, Women's Affairs, and Internal Affairs Committees, as well as the Joint Commission for the Revision of the Civil Code of Puerto Rico.

Speaker of the House

González was re-elected for another term at the 2008 Puerto Rico general elections obtaining the most votes from her party, and the second most votes overall.[7] At the age of 32, she was elected House Speaker by members of her New Party for Progress delegation during a caucus held on November 7, 2008. González defeated incumbent House Speaker José Aponte Hernández in his bid for re-election to that post, becoming the youngest person in Puerto Rican history to be elected Speaker of the House, and the third woman to hold that seat.

Chairwoman of the Republican Party of Puerto Rico

In November 2015 González was unanimously elected as Chairwoman of the Republican Party of Puerto Rico after being the party's Vice-Chair for eight years. She succeeded Aguadilla mayor Carlos Méndez in the position that once was held by former Governor Don Luis A. Ferré, founder of the New Progressive Party and Dr. Jose Celso Barbosa the founder of both the Republican Party and the statehood movement in Puerto Rico.[8][9]

Post-Speakership career

In 2012, González was again re-elected this time gathering the most votes overall, despite the fact that her party lost the majority of seats.[10] The same night of the election, she was selected as Minority Leader of her party.[11]

On September 14, 2015, she announced that she was throwing her hat in the ring to succeed Rep. Pedro Pierluisi in Congress. Six days later, one of Pierluisi's rivals for the gubernatorial nomination, Ricardo Rosselló chose her as his running mate for the June 5, 2016 primary and the November 8, 2016 general election. During the ten months the primary race lasted, various public opinion polls consistently showed her to have over 70% approval ratings of the electorate, making her the most popular politician of any political party on the Island.

On June 5, 2016 she won the NPP primary by a landslide margin of 70.54% of the vote[12] over her opponent Carlos Pesquera, thus becoming the first woman in the history of the New Progressive Party to be nominated to the Resident Commissioner seat in Congress for the November general elections.

On November 8, 2016 she won the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico seat in Congress over her main opponent Hector Ferrer of the Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico,[13] thus becoming the first woman and youngest person to represent Puerto Rico in the U.S. Congress since the creation of the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico seat 115 years ago.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is González and the second or maternal family name is Colón.

References

  1. ↑ "Jenniffer González exige entrega de documentos fiscales". El Nuevo Día. 2015-08-17. Retrieved 2015-09-18.
  2. ↑ "ADENDI". Elnuevodia.com. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
  3. ↑ "ADENDI". El Nuevo Día. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
  4. ↑ "Sólida la dupla de Rosselló y González en el PNP". El Nuevo Día. 2015-09-18. Retrieved 2015-09-18.
  5. ↑
  6. ↑ "Biografía - Hon. Jenniffer A. González Colón" (in Spanish). House of Representatives of Puerto Rico. Retrieved 2015-12-23.
  7. ↑ "Elecciones Generales 2008". CEEPUR. 2009-06-15. Retrieved 2015-09-18.
  8. ↑ "Republicanos escogen a Jenniffer Gónzalez como presidenta" (in Spanish). El Nuevo Día. 1 November 2015. Archived from the original on 15 November 2016. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  9. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20161115213613/http://www.tucamarapr.org/dnncamara/web/ComposiciondelaCamara/biografia.aspx?rep=179
  10. ↑ "CEE Event". CEEPUR. 2012-12-29. Retrieved 2015-09-18.
  11. ↑ "Jenniffer González será la portavoz del PNP en la Cámara". El Nuevo Día. 2012-11-08. Retrieved 2015-09-18.
  12. ↑
  13. ↑
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