Tagpuerto rico

Antonio Soto resigns from Puerto Rico House of Representatives

By Chris Henderson
In State
March 4, 2021 at 1:22 PM

Antonio Soto (New Progressive Party) resigned his seat in the Puerto Rico House of Representatives on Feb. 28. Soto cited a need to take over his family’s businesses due to his parents’ advanced age as the reason for his resignation. 

“There are circumstances in life that make us make decisions and the family always comes first,” Soto said when announcing his resignation. “It is up to me to step forward and respond to them.”

Soto was first sworn in to the Puerto Rico House in 2013. He represented District 6, which includes Guaynabo, Cataño, and Bayamón, and served as the chair of the Finance Commission for the past four years. Soto recently won re-election to his House seat on November 3, 2020, for a term that was set to expire in January 2025. 

When a vacancy occurs in the Puerto Rico House of Representatives before the 15 months preceding the date of a general election, the governor must call a special election within 30 days. The election must occur no later than 90 days after the governor’s call, and the person elected will hold office for the rest of the unexpired term of his or her predecessor.

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Alonso Vega resigns from Puerto Rico House of Representatives 

By Chris Henderson
In Uncategorized
November 13, 2020 at 11:07 AM

Rep. Néstor Alonso Vega (New Progressive Party) resigned from his seat in the Puerto Rico House of Representatives on Nov. 10. Alonso Vega, who held an at-large seat in the chamber, had been arrested and indicted for allegedly increasing an employee’s salary in order to receive half of the increase in return. 

Alonso Vega had recently won re-election to his seat on Nov. 3. He is the third member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives to resign after being arrested and charged with corruption this year, after María Charbonier Laureano and Nelson Del Valle Colón.

The Puerto Rico House of Representatives is the lower chamber of Puerto Rico’s bicameral legislature. All 51 of Puerto Rico’s House seats were up for election on Nov. 3. Prior to the election, the New Progressive Party controlled the chamber with 35 seats, while the Popular Democratic Party held 15 seats and one was held by an independent. The results of the November election are not yet final. 

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