Republicans Flip Governor’s Mansion in Puerto Rico, Despite Joke Controversy

Republicans flipped the governor’s mansion in Puerto Rico on Election Day, as Congresswoman Jenniffer González-Colón (R-PR) emerged victorious despite a week of controversy about a comedian’s joke at a Donald Trump rally.

González-Colón is currently Puerto Rico’s “Resident Commissioner,” who sits in the U.S. House of Representatives but does not vote. Elected in 2016, she was the first woman to serve in that role.

She won while facing headwinds in the final days of the campaign as a result of comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s joke at Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City on October 27. Hinchcliffe, one of the first warmup acts in a six-hour program, joked about Puerto Rico’s struggles with pollution, and called the island “garbage.” The crowd groaned in disapproval.

Ángel Cintrón, the chair of the Republican Party in Puerto Rico, was so upset that he said he would not vote for Trump unless the nominee apologized. (Trump said he did not hear the joke and did not know the comedian.)

Democrats hoped, and media outlets speculated, that there would be a backlash among Puerto Rican voters, both on the island and on the mainland. However, if there was a backlash, it did not show up in the early results on Tuesday. González-Colón led her race by eight points; and Trump carried Florida counties that are heavily Puerto Rican.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.