Pedro Pierluisi assures that he did not approach Larry Seilhamer to be his running mate

The governor Pedro Pierluisi This Monday he rejected that he had requested the former senator Larry Seilhamer be his running mate for the 2024 elections and insisted that he does not have to do that because there is no vacancy for the resident police station in Washington.

The new day He learned, through two sources, that Pierluisi’s approach to Seilhamer occurred last week, when they both met at an activity in Ponce.

This medium tried to communicate with the former legislator, who only responded with a text message: “I have (nothing) new to share or report.”

After being consulted about Seilhamer’s alternative to be his running mate, the first executive said that “I have already said that I am not in that process, because there is no vacancy in the resident police station. At the time, if a vacancy arises, then I can evaluate the different pre-candidates that arise, but There is no vacancy, so that’s why I’m not spending time on that matter.”.

Likewise, when asked if, if a vacancy arises, the former senator would be a candidate to evaluate, Pierluisi said that “I have praised him in the past, recently and I will continue to praise him, but I am not considering him as a resident commissioner”. Carlos MelladoSecretary of Health, had considered running for the position a few months ago, but gave up.

The president reaffirmed that the possibility of adding Seilhamer “It is out of place, because right now there (at the resident police station) there are no vacancies. We must respect, I think, the resident commissioner. She is doing her job, so I don’t want to be causing a challenge to the resident commissioner. “I am not in that process.”

For her part, and according to several sources told this newspaper, Resident Commissioner Jenniffer Gonzalez also flirted with the possibility of Seilhamer being her running mate. Instead, she did not consider Jose Enrique “Quiquito” Melendezwho in recent days said that he will not endorse the official because he included lobbyist Elias Sanchez in his work team.

The sources also indicated that Gonzalez made approaches to the retired general of the National Guard, Jose Reyes, and the former Secretary of Housing, Miguel Hernandez Vivoni.

On the other hand, the alternate electoral commissioner of the New Progressive Party (PNP), Edwin Mundostated that “Larry would be a good alternative if the commissioner were not running, but the race for resident commissioner is not vacant until the commissioner announces anything else.”

Pierluisi insisted on his response when asked if Gonzalez’s pregnancy, announced yesterday, Sunday, can change her political panorama and, consequently, his.

“What comes from me is to congratulate her and her husband Yovin. I wish you the greatest happiness as a couple and soon as a family. It is a moment of joy for all of us who are friends with the commissioner or support her. “All of us, all of us”Pierluisi stated.

When asked if his administration would be disrupted if Gonzalez also decides to run for governor, especially given the position he currently occupies in Washington, the governor reiterated that there is no vacancy.

“I don’t anticipate… I really don’t start from the premise that we are going to have a primary for governor. Having said that, I respect the right of anyone to seek elective office, including the governorship.”he explained.