|
Para ver este documento en
español, oprima aquí.
REUTERS
Bush Sweeps Puerto Rico Republican Primary
February 28, 2000
Copyright © 2000 REUTERS. All Rights Reserved.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, (Reuters) - Texas Gov. George W. Bush
pummeled challenger John McCain Sunday in the Puerto Rico Republican
primary, garnering nearly 93 percent of the vote.
Bush's victory gave him 14 delegates in his bid for the Republican
presidential nomination.
With 99.4 percent of the ballots counted, Bush had won 92.6
percent of the votes. McCain had 5.9 percent, and the rest of
the votes were split among Alan Keyes, Gary Bauer and Steve Forbes.
Both Bauer and Forbes were still on the ballot despite having
dropped out of the race.
Helping Bush in his strong showing was his backing of statehood
for Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico's Republicans are primarily made
up of those who want the island to become the 51st state of the
United States.
Bush said in an interview Saturday with Puerto Rican journalists
that he backed statehood for Puerto Rico.
A Spanish-speaking Caribbean island of 3.8 million residents,
Puerto Rico is a U.S. commonwealth. Its residents vote in presidential
primaries, but cannot vote in general elections and pay no federal
taxes.
Puerto Ricans are about evenly divided between those who support
statehood and those who back commonwealth status. A small fraction
support independence for the island.
The Bush family's strong ties to the island also boosted the
Texas governor in the Puerto Rico primary. Bush's father, former
President George Bush, visits Puerto Rico frequently and is a
close friend of Luis A. Ferre, a 96-year-old former governor and
the patriarch of the island's Republicans.
Bush's brother, Jeb, has many friends in Puerto Rico as well,
from time spent on the island campaigning for his father in 1988
and 1992.
The San Juan Star, in a Saturday endorsement of the Texas governor,
said a Bush presidency would give the island excellent access
to the White House.
| 
