SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Pedro Pierluisi of Puerto Rico's pro-statehood New Progressive Party won a majority of votes to become the U.S. territory's next governor, according to official preliminary results released late Saturday.
Pierluisi received nearly 33% of votes compared with nearly 32% obtained by Carlos Delgado of the Popular Democratic Party, which supports the current territorial status, with 100% of precincts reporting.
The results come four days after Puerto Rico held general elections, an unusual delay blamed on a record number of early and absentee votes that overwhelmed officials. It's also the first time that Puerto Rico's two main parties fail to reach 40% of votes.
"These are times to unite wills and purposes," Pierluisi said in a statement.
Pierluisi had claimed victory the night of the election as Delgado refused to concede, noting that his opponent was leading by a very slim margin and that thousands of votes still had not been counted.
On Saturday, he congratulated Pierluisi: "The island needs consensus, dialogue and convergence so that we can face the great challenges of the future."
Saturday's results were released hours after U.S. President-elect Joe Biden won the election in the U.S. mainland, a victory that Pierluisi said would help Puerto Rico finally gain statehood. He congratulated Biden and said he looked forward to working with him and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris "for the benefit of all Puerto Ricans in their fight for progress and equality."
Voters in Puerto Rico participated in a non-binding referendum the day of the local general election that asked, "Should Puerto Rico be admitted immediately into the union as a state?" More than 52% of voters approved, but any changes to the island's political status needs approval from U.S. Congress. It is the island's sixth such referendum.
