Luis Fortuño

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Luis Fortuño

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Puerto Rico's At-large district
In office 2005 - present
Preceded by	Aníbal Acevedo-Vilá
Succeeded by	Incumbent

Born	October 31, 1960 (age 46) Puerto Rico
Political party	New Progressive Party, Republican Party
Spouse	Lucé Vela
Religion	Roman Catholic

Luis Guillermo Fortuño-Burset (born October 31, 1960) is a corporate lawyer and politician from Puerto Rico. He is the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico to the United States Congress since January 3, 2005, and is affiliated with the New Progressive Party (PNP) and the United States Republican Party. He is also the Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Conference and the Ranking Member of the newly-created House Subcommittee on Insular Affairs.

On February 19, 2007, he announced his candidacy for Governor of Puerto Rico for the elections of 2008.

[edit] Education

Mr. Fortuño received a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service (B.S.F.S.) degree from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, and later received a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1985. During this period, Fortuño was an intern at the Office of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in Washington, D.C.. He is married to attorney Lucé Vela and has triplets, María Luisa, Luis Roberto and Guillermo.

[edit] Political career

While in college, Fortuño co-founded the Puerto Rico Statehood Students Association and was active in pro-statehood youth organizations and in the Republican Party. Fortuño was appointed to various political positions during Governor Pedro Rosselló's administration. During Rosselló's tenure as governor, he served as Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company and as the first Secretary of Economic Development.

Fortuño decided to seek his party's nomination for the post of Resident Commissioner late in the primaries of 2003. He won the primaries with over 60 percent of the vote, defeating three veteran politicians such as former governor and resident commissioner Carlos Romero Barceló.

After winning the primary, he picked up momentum within the Republican Party ranks in the U.S. when he received the endorsement of Ed Gillespie, head of the Republican National Committee. In the elections of 2004, Fortuño was victorious over his main rival candidate Roberto Prats. However, his running-mate Rosselló lost his bid for the governor's seat by less than 4,000 votes. This meant that Fortuño would be the Resident Commissioner under Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá of the Popular Democratic Party. This is the first time in Puerto Rican history that the Governor of Puerto Rico and the Resident Commissioner are not from the same political party.

Upon the commencement of the 109th Congress, Fortuño was elected by his colleagues to serve as Vice-President of the House Republican Freshman Class. He served as Vice-Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Conference during the 109th Congress and as Chair during the 110th Congress. House Resources Committee Ranking Member Don Young appointed him in January 2007 as the Republican minority's Ranking Member in the Subcommittee on Insular Affairs for the 110th Congress.

Fortuño was named 1996 Man of the Year by the Caribbean Business, 1995 Public Servant of the Year by the Marketing Industry and Distribution of Food and Beverage Products Association of Puerto Rico, 1994 Public Servant of the Year by the Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce, and 1994 Distinguished Executive by the Sales and Marketing Executives Association of Ponce and the Southern Region of Puerto Rico. He served on numerous boards of directors, including: the Ana G. Méndez University System and the Museum of Art of Puerto Rico. He is a member of the American Law Institute and the Urban Land Institute.

Fortuño was re-elected by the Republican Party of Puerto Rico's General Assembly to continue serving as National Committeeman, a position he has held since 2001. In 1996, he served on the Platform Committee at the Republican National Convention, where he was successful in including the support for self-determination and eventual statehood for Puerto Rico in the party platform.

[edit] External links

Preceded by Aníbal Acevedo Vilá	Resident Commissioner to the U.S. House of Representatives from Puerto Rico 2005 – present	Incumbent

Resident Commissioners of Puerto Rico
Degetau • Larrinaga • Muñoz Rivera • Córdova Dávila • Pesquera • Iglesias • Pagán • Piñero • Fernós-Isern Polanco • Córdova • Benítez • Corrada del Río • Fuster • Colorado • Romero Barceló • Acevedo Vilá • Fortuño