List of governors of Puerto Rico

This list of governors of Puerto Rico includes all persons who have held the office of Governor of Puerto Rico since its establishment under the rule of the Spanish Empire (1508–1898) to the present under the sovereignty of the United States (1898–present).

thumb|300px|[[La Fortaleza, the official residence of the governor of Puerto Rico since the 16th century]]

The archipelago and island of Puerto Rico was annexed by the United States during the Spanish–American War in 1898, ending 390 years of active rule by the Spanish Empire, which began the European exploration, colonization, and settlement of the main island under conquistador Juan Ponce de León in 1508. Ponce de León was the first person to hold the title and office of governor by orders of King Ferdinand II of Aragon in 1509. Ricardo Rosselló, who left office prematurely as a result of the Telegramgate scandal in 2019, is the first and only elected governor to have resigned. No elected governor has been impeached.

The first governor born in Puerto Rico was Ponce de León’s grandchild, Juan Ponce de León II, who served as interim governor from 1578 to 1580.

Since 1949, the governor of Puerto Rico has served by popular election as the head of government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States organized under the Constitution of Puerto Rico since its establishment in 1952. The incumbent governor is Jenniffer González, who was elected on November 5, 2024, and sworn in on January 2, 2025.

History

Spanish Empire rule

With the European discovery of Puerto Rico during the second voyage of Christopher Columbus in November 1493, the archipelagic island was claimed by the Spanish Crown. In 1505, Spanish King Ferdinand II of Aragon ordered the colonization of Puerto Rico, appointing Spanish conquistador Vicente Yáñez Pinzón as its captain and corregidor to essentially serve as a de facto governor. However, Yáñez Pinzón never fulfilled the commission. Puerto Rico remained unexplored and unsettled by the Spanish Empire from 1493 to 1508.

In 1508, the King ordered Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León to conquer Puerto Rico, becoming the first European to explore, colonize, and settle the archipelago and island. The governor continued to be appointed by the Spanish Crown for 390 years, serving under various administrative entities: the Viceroyalty of the Indies (1508–1535), the Viceroyalty of New Spain (1535–1582), the Captaincy General of Puerto Rico (1582–1897), and the Autonomous Province of Puerto Rico (1897–1898).

From 1537 to 1544 and 1548 to 1550, the governorship remained vacant, as alcaldes ordinarios served in place of a governor. By order of King Charles I of Spain, two alcaldes ordinarios, one for the eastern cabildo of Partido de San Juan and the other for the western cabildo of Partido de San Germán, were elected each year by the regidores of each cabildo. The alcaldes ordinarios, who could only be re-elected two years after the end of their one-year term, served as municipal administrators and not governors.

From 1578 to 1580, Juan Ponce de León’s grandchild, Juan Ponce de León II, served as interim governor, becoming the first Puerto Rican-born person to served as governor of the archipelago and island.

United States sovereignty

In 1898, the President of the United States assumed the authority to appoint the person occupying the office as a result of the annexation of the archipelago and island by the United States during Spanish American War.

While General Nelson A. Miles led the American invasion and occupation of Puerto Rico from July 25 to August 13, 1898, he never served as governor, as that responsibility was assigned to fellow General John R. Brooke, who was head of the American delegation to the commission for the peaceful transfer of sovereignty over Puerto Rico from Spain to the United States, as stipulated in the armistice signed by the two countries on August 12. After the departure of the Spanish officials from San Juan on October 16, Brooke became the first American governor of the archipelago and island on October 18, 1898, succeeding interim governor Ángel Rivero Méndez, who was the last governor under Spanish administration.

| Juan Cerón

| October 28, 1509

| March 2, 1510

| 100px

| Juan Ponce de León

| March 2, 1510

| June 21, 1511

| Gonzalo de Ovalle

| June 21, 1511

| November 28, 1511

| Juan Cerón

| November 28, 1511

| June 2, 1512

| Rodrigo de Moscoso

| June 2, 1512

| February 1513

| ≥

| Cristóbal de Mendoza

| February 1513

| July 15, 1515

| ≥

| 100px

| Juan Ponce de León

| July 15, 1515

| September 12, 1519

| 100px

| Antonio de la Gama

| September 12, 1519

| January 15, 1521

| 100px

|Pedro Moreno

| January 15, 1521

| May 1523

| ≥

| Alonso Manso

| May 1523

| 1524

| ≥

| 100px

| Pedro Moreno

| 1524

| June 1529

| ≥

| 100px

| Antonio de la Gama

|June 1529

|1530

| ≥

| 100px

| Francisco Manuel de Lando

| 1530

| August 1536

| ≥

Viceroyalty of New Spain (1535–1582)

In 1535, the administrative entity of the Viceroyalty of the Indies was merged into the newly-created Viceroyalty of New Spain. Headquartered in Mexico City, it was composed of Mexico, the Louisiana Purchase, Florida, and the states west of the Mississippi River in the United States, British Columbia in Canada, Guatemala, Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua in Central America, Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, and the Lesser Antilles in the insular Caribbean, and Venezuela in South America.

From the establishment of the Viceroyalty of New Spain in 1535 to the creation of the Captaincy General of Puerto Rico in 1582, the governor of Puerto Rico operated under the jurisdiction of the Spanish Crown, which exercised its authority through the monarch of Spain, the president of the Council of the Indies, the viceroy of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and the president of the Real Audiencia of Santo Domingo, who was also the governor of the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo in Hispaniola.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

! rowspan="2" | No.

! rowspan="2" | Signature

! rowspan="2" width="200px" | Name

! colspan="3" | Tenure

! rowspan="2" |

! width="100px" | Start

! width="100px" | End

! width="100px" | Duration

| 100px

| Vasco de Tiedra

| August 1536

| September 28, 1537

| ≥

| rowspan="26" | From the implementation of the Autonomous Province of Puerto Rico in February 1898 to the annexation of the archipelago and island by the United States during the Spanish–American War in October 1898, the governor of Puerto Rico operated under the jurisdiction of the Spanish Crown, which exercised its authority through the monarch, the prime minister, and the overseas minister.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

! rowspan="2" | No.

! rowspan="2" | Portrait

! rowspan="2" | Name

! colspan="3" | Tenure

! rowspan="2" |

! Start

! End

! Duration

| 100px

| Manuel Macías y Casado

| February 2, 1898

| October 14, 1898

| rowspan="2" |

| 100px

| William H. Hunt

| September 15, 1901

| July 4, 1904

| 100px

| Beekman Winthrop

| July 4, 1904

| April 17, 1907

|rowspan="3" |

Jones–Shafroth Act (1917–1952)

The Jones–Shafroth Act established a bill of rights based on the United States Bill of Rights and granted statutory birthright United States citizenship to anyone born in the archipelago and island of Puerto Rico on or after April 11, 1899.

The Act expanded the executive and legislative branches of the Insular Government of Porto Rico. It created the executive departments of Justice, Education, Finance, Interior, Labor and Agriculture, and Health, with their heads, the first two appointed by the President of the United States, and the rest appointed by the Governor, who was also appointed by the President, forming an executive council to the Governor. It formed a legislative 19-member Senate elected by the residents of Puerto Rico, and increased the membership and term length of the House of Representatives to 39 popularly elected members serving four-year terms. It also increased to four years the term length of the Resident Commissioner, a non-voting member to the United States House of Representatives elected by the residents of Puerto Rico.

During the Insular Government of Porto Rico, from the passing of the Jones–Shafroth Act in 1917 to the implementation of the Elective Governor Act in 1948, which granted the residents of Puerto Rico the power to elect the governor through popular vote, the governor of Puerto Rico was under the jurisdiction of the President of the United States. As part of the Bureau of Insular Affairs of the United States Department of War, it remained under the purview of the Secretary of War until 1934, when the responsibility was assumed by the Secretary of Interior, as Puerto Rico was transferred to the Division of Territories and Island Possessions of the United States Department of Interior. Puerto Rico remained under said organization until the proclamation of the Constitution of Puerto Rico in 1952, when it achieved complete local self-governance as the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

! rowspan="2" | No.

! rowspan="2" | Portrait

! rowspan="2" | Name

! colspan="3" | Tenure

! rowspan="2" |

! Start

! End

! Duration

!

| 100px

| Arthur Yager

| March 2, 1917

| May 15, 1921

| 100px

| Juan B. Huyke

| February 16, 1923

| April 1, 1923

| 100px

| James R. Beverley

| September 29, 1929

| October 7, 1929

| 100px

| James R. Beverley

| January 30, 1932

| July 3, 1933

| 100px

| Benjamin J. Horton

| January 11, 1934

| February 5, 1934

| 100px

| José E. Colom

| June 25, 1939

| September 11, 1939

| 100px

| José M. Gallardo

| November 28, 1940

| February 3, 1941

| 100px

|José M. Gallardo

| July 24, 1941

| September 19, 1941

| 100px

| Jesús T. Piñero

| September 2, 1946

| January 2, 1949

|

| 1952

| January 2, 1953

| January 2, 1957

| rowspan="3" |12 years

| rowspan="3" style="background-color:; |

| rowspan="3" |Popular Democratic

! rowspan="3" style="background-color:;" |

| rowspan="3" |Independent

| 1956

| January 2, 1957

| January 2, 1961

| 1960

| January 2, 1961

| January 2, 1965

! 177

| 100px

| Roberto Sánchez Vilella

| 1964

| January 2, 1965

| January 2, 1969

| 4 years

| style="background-color:;" |

| Popular Democratic

| style="background-color:;" |

| Democratic

! 178

| 100px

| Luis A. Ferré

| 1968

| January 2, 1969

| January 2, 1973

| 4 years

| style="background-color:;" |

| New Progressive

| style="background-color:;" |

| Republican

! 179

| 100px

| Rafael Hernández Colón

! rowspan="2" |180

| rowspan="2" |100px

| rowspan="2" |Carlos Romero Barceló

| 1976

| January 2, 1977

| January 2, 1981

| rowspan="2" |8 years

| rowspan="2" style="background-color:;" |

| rowspan="2" |New Progressive

| rowspan="2" style="background-color:;" |

| rowspan="2" |Democratic

| 1980

| January 2, 1981

| January 2, 1985

! rowspan="2" |181

| rowspan="2" |100px

| rowspan="2" |Rafael Hernández Colón

| 1984

| January 2, 1985

| January 2, 1989

| rowspan="2" |8 years

| rowspan="2" style="background-color:;" |

| rowspan="2" |Popular Democratic

| rowspan="2" style="background-color:;" |

| rowspan="2" |Democratic

| 1988

| January 2, 1989

| January 2, 1993

! rowspan="2" |182

| rowspan="2" |100px

| rowspan="2" nowrap="nowrap" id="21st century" |Pedro Rosselló

| 1992

| January 2, 1993

| January 2, 1997

| rowspan="2" |8 years

| rowspan="2" style="background-color:;" |

| rowspan="2" |New Progressive

| rowspan="2" style="background-color:;" |

| rowspan="2" |Democratic

| 1996

| January 2, 1997

| January 2, 2001

! 183

| 100px

| Sila María Calderón

| 2000

| January 2, 2001

| January 2, 2005

| 4 years

| style="background-color:;" |

| Popular Democratic

| style="background-color:;" |

| Democratic

! 184

| 100px

| Aníbal Acevedo Vilá

| 2004

| January 2, 2005

| January 2, 2009

| 4 years

| style="background-color:;" |

| Popular Democratic

| style="background-color:;" |

| Democratic

! 185

| 100px

| Luis Fortuño

| 2008

| January 2, 2009

| January 2, 2013

| 4 years

| style="background-color:;" |

| New Progressive

| style="background-color:;" |

| Republican

! 186

| 100px

| Alejandro García Padilla

| 2012

| January 2, 2013

| January 2, 2017

| 4 years

| style="background-color:;" |

|Popular Democratic

| style="background-color:;" |

| Democratic

! 187

| 100px

| Ricardo Rosselló

| 2016

| January 2, 2017

| August 2, 2019

| 2 years, 212 days

| style="background-color:; color:white;" |

| New Progressive

| style="background-color:;" |

| Democratic

! –

| 100px

| Pedro Pierluisi

| None

| August 2, 2019

| August 7, 2019

| 5 days

| style="background-color:;" |

| New Progressive

| style="background-color:;" |

| Democratic

| None

| August 7, 2019

| January 2, 2021

| 1 year, 148 days

| style="background-color:;" |

| New Progressive

| style="background-color:;" |

| Republican

! 189

| 100px

| Pedro Pierluisi

| 2024

| January 2, 2025

| Incumbent

| style="background-color:;" |

| New Progressive

| style="background-color:;" |

| Republican

Timeline (1508–present)

Spanish Empire rule (1508–1898)

United States sovereignty (1898–present)

Notes

References

External links

List of Puerto Rico Governors — on WorldStatesmen.org

pl:Gubernatorzy Portoryko

History

Spanish Empire rule

United States sovereignty

Viceroyalty of New Spain (1535–1582)

Jones–Shafroth Act (1917–1952)

Timeline (1508–present)

Spanish Empire rule (1508–1898)

United States sovereignty (1898–present)

See also

Notes

References

External links