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While news stories in the U.S. and Puerto Rico have been filled with outraged responses to the racist “joke” made at Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally last Sunday calling Puerto Rico “a floating island of garbage,” there has been quite a bit of discussion about how this may or may not tip the presidential election, given the number of Puerto Ricans in key swing states.
What hasn’t been explored much by mainland U.S. media is the impact it may have on the important gubernatorial election on the island, where the race has shifted significantly in the past few months. Leading candidate Jenniffer González-Colón is being challenged by Juan Dalmau, a third-party candidate who has upended the race and is only 2 percentage points behind in the latest poll.
Other offices in Puerto Rico are up for grabs as well, including resident commissioner (the nonvoting member of the U.S. Congress, which is currently held by González-Colón); elections for the commonwealth’s Senate and House of Representatives; and mayors for the island’s 78 municipalities.
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