Political analyst Ángel Rosa said on NotiUno 630 that the vote against Donald Trump in Tuesday’s midterm elections was a rejection of a governing style he called exclusive, authoritarian, deceptive and, above all, corrupt, with discontent over the economy driving the president’s defeat. He noted corruption had not been a midterm election issue in the United States since Watergate under Nixon.
Rosa said that, since Puerto Rico did not participate in the election, the island’s political discussion is 'who is going to release more federal funds’, not a matter of principles. He detailed that Puerto Rican-born Democratic congressman Darren Soto declared himself winner of Florida’s District 9 by about 1,477 votes over Republican Dan Green, in a district where, he said, the Puerto Rican and Hispanic population was diluted, and that Soto reaffirmed his support for Puerto Rico statehood shortly before the polls closed in Florida.
Rosa called Soto a survivor who will become a weighty congressman through seniority and his electoral feat. He also noted three congressmembers of Dominican origin are entering the federal House of Representatives: Darializa Ávila Chevalier, who won 88% in New York’s District 13; Manny Rutinel, who beat Gabe Evans 56 to 41 in Colorado’s District 8; and Analilia Mejía, who held New Jersey’s District 11 with 60%.
He said Ávila Chevalier has declared herself in favor of Puerto Rico’s right to independence, and that the Dominican-linked delegation is nearly as large as the Puerto Rico-linked one.