Republicans should support Puerto Rican statehood effort

At first glance, New Mexico and the Island of Puerto Rico seem to have little in common. But beyond the obvious geographic and cultural differences, Puerto Rico and New Mexico share a long and complicated history with suffrage and voter disenfranchisement.

Since 1898, Puerto Rico has been a territory of the United States. And despite having approximately 3 million residents, Puerto Ricans are not able to vote nor have an elected representative vote in Congress. New Mexico, meanwhile, has only had congressional representation since 1912.

As such, Puerto Rico’s struggles in having a voice in Washington should matter to the people of New Mexico.

The people of Puerto Rico recently once again voted in favor of Puerto Rican statehood. Support for Puerto Rican statehood has held steady in nonbinding referendum votes going as far back as 1998.

Unfortunately for the people of Puerto Rico, there is considerable opposition from lawmakers in the U.S. mainland against Puerto Rican statehood.

Among those opposing Puerto Rican statehood include Republicans and conservatives who are convinced it would mean adding a new, reliably Democrat-voting state to the union.

But as someone who has worked for Republicans, here’s why these fears are unfounded:

For starters, Puerto Rico has a long history of electing conservative and Republican elected officials. They include folks like Gov. Luis Fortuño, who cut taxes, embraced pro-growth economic policies and supported conservative policies while governing “La Isla del Encanto” from 2009-13. And in recent years, Puerto Rico’s legislature has enacted legislation promoting the sanctity of life by affirming the rights of the unborn and traditional definitions of gender.

All of this should not come as a complete surprise, given the results of a 2019 poll of Puerto Ricans living on the island that found although 38 percent of those polled identified as Democrats, 42 percent said they were not committed to either party.

None of this is being lost on some of the most prominent and most progressive voices of the Democratic Party, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Nydia Velázquez, who introduced legislation last year to create a convention to determine the future of the U.S. territory.

Not everyone is buying the legislation’s seemingly benevolent intentions, including several Puerto Rican lawmakers as Reps. Velázquez and Ocasio-Cortez seem to think “there isn’t overwhelming support for statehood in Puerto Rico.”

Republicans should see right through the Democratic Party’s strategy and push ahead for statehood without trepidation. Follow the lead of several congressional Republicans such as Jim Banks, R-Ind., and Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., who have supported such legislation statehood in years past.

The House Natural Resources Committee is expected to hold a hearing in which New Mexico Republican Rep. Yvette Herrell will have an opportunity to hear the case for and against statehood. There is a possibility this issue may come up in the full U.S. House of Representatives in 2022 for a vote.

The Republican Party has a long history of standing up for Puerto Rican statehood, including actions by former President Ronald Reagan, who spoke up in favor of the issue nearly 40 years ago, and more recently as part of the 2012 and 2016 Republican Party platforms.

Conservative ideas have universal appeal.

The ideas of hard work and limited government resonate. In fact, the Wall Street Journal recently published a story showing strong Hispanic support for Republicans.

Instead of fearing our country’s changing demographics, conservatives and Republicans should welcome Puerto Rico as our 51st state with open arms.

Dax Contreras is an ad hoc political advisor to local, state and federal political campaigns and organizations and is executive director of Hispanos Unidos, a local non-partisan political organization in New Mexico: nmhispanos.org/about.