Ny Safidinao

The former Republican governor of Puerto Rico will be the keynote speaker next month at the annual Lincoln-Reagan Day, the major annual fundraiser for the Anne Arundel County Republican party. Luis Fortuño, who was elected in 2008 and served one term, will speak to local Republicans from 6 to 10 p.m. June 3 at Bleue's on the Water, 7696 Altoona Beach Road in Glen Burnie. Tickets start at $75, with VIP tickets and sponsorships available. Fortuño was an active campaigner for Republican candidate Mitt Romney in 2012, and was named by several news organizations as a possible vice presidential candidate. Last month, he held a fundraiser for former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush who was touring the commonwealth island, according to published reports.  In Puerto Rico, there are no Republicans or Democrats, although the local parties line up with the major ones. Fortuño served president of the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico until 2013, and also has been a member of the National Republica

The first independent candidate for governor of Puerto Rico, Alexandra Lúgaro, is counting on social networks to promote her image and create a niche for herself in a system controlled for decades by two parties. Lúgaro, a 33-year-old attorney, told EFE in an interview Monday that despite her campaign's lack of means to challenge the island's two major parties, she firmly believes she can become the next governor of Puerto Rico by making full use of social networks. "Yes, I see myself as governor," Lúgaro said about the election in November 2016, an uphill battle provided her lack of financial wherewithal that's traditionally spent by the ruling PPD, which promotes Puerto Rico's status as a U.S. commonwealth, and the PNP, which wants the island to become the 51st state. For Lúgaro, that issue – so frequently portrayed as the definitive one on the island – is not a top priority. "First comes the economy," she said, concerned about the hard times t

The former governor of Florida, John (or as he prefers to be called, Juan) Ellis Bush, doesn’t appear to have a lot of support among Republicans, as opposed to Republicans in Name Only (RINOs), who absolutely adore him. But Juan isn’t sweating it. He’s rolling in dough, and more importantly, he’s rolling in opponents. Have you ever heard of a “straw” candidate? When you have a weak front-runner that can’t reach 50 percent, often a third, or a fourth, or even a fifth candidate suddenly jumps into the race. If he has a name similar to that of the strongest opponent, or is at least a member of the same ethnic group, even better! And the best straw of all is the one who doesn’t even know he’s a straw. I think we have a lot of straws traipsing around New Hampshire these days. As Juan Ellis Bush might paraphrase Mao, let a hundred straws bloom. Look at the latest N.H. poll of GOP candidates. Juan Bush is in first place with a meager 15 percent, even though he’s a “brand.” But then, so a

Republicans are bringing something unique to the 2016 presidential campaign: an ability to speak to Americans in both of their main mother tongues, Spanish as well as English. Democrats can’t match it. Previous GOP candidates couldn’t. But now, paradoxically, the party that’s on the outs with many Hispanic voters over immigration is the party that has serious presidential candidates who are surefooted in their language. It remains to be seen how much Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio will use their fluent Spanish in the campaign. Rubio offered a few words of it in his presidential campaign announcement, quoting his Cuban grandfather, a small but notable addition in a speech meant for everyone to hear, not just a Hispanic crowd. Bush peppered his remarks with Spanish in Puerto Rico on Tuesday, making an obvious cultural connection with many in his audience. Even a modest amount of Spanish will be more than presidential campaigns have known. President George W. Bush rarely used his barely h

On the Republican side of the 2016 race, this was the week the courting of the Latino vote seemed to begin. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas spoke Wednesday at the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C., after the group criticized him for skipping their summit last month. Meanwhile, Jeb Bush went on a Spanish-language tour — first to Puerto Rico and then speaking to the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference in Houston. Latinos are part of the electorate everyone agrees is key, but the GOP has struggled to connect. Latinos have long skewed Democratic, but the past two presidential elections hit Republicans especially hard — Latinos voted overwhelmingly for Obama. This time around, two major candidates on the right — Cruz and Marco Rubio — are Hispanic. Jeb Bush is not Latino, despite that box he checked , but his wife is Mexican-American, and he speaks fluent Spanish. Cruz, who is Cuban-American, told the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce about his immigrant father who strugg