Republicans Need to Pay More Attention to Puerto Rico

According to the former commonwealth governor Luis Fortuño, Republican presidential candidates need to be conscious of the importance of the Puerto Rican vote when they react to the debt crisis afflicting the territory. In an interview with the Guardian, Fortuño said the candidates who are serious about pursuing the party’s nomination to the end “will have to comment” on the debt crisis there. Fortuño, a well-respected Republican who was mooted as a potential vice-presidential pick for Mitt Romney in 2012, said the issue could be important not just in the general election but in the 2016 Republican presidential primary as well. Fortuño also noted that while Puerto Ricans are a crucial general election demographic, their votes loom even larger in the 2016 GOP primary.