Fortuño, Luis G. (Luis Guillermo), 1960-

<p>The first Resident Commissioner to caucus with the Republican Party since the 92nd Congress (1971–1973), Luis G. Fortuño served one term in the U.S. House of Representatives before becoming governor of Puerto Rico in 2009. As a principal figure in Puerto Rico’s Partido Nuevo Progresista (New Progressive Party, or PNP), he was the primary advocate for Puerto Rican statehood during his tenure in Washington and an outspoken critic of the island’s limited influence in Congress. “After 106 years of territorial status, and 88 years of being U.S. citizens, we are tired of waiting,” Fortuño said in March 2005. “The people of Puerto Rico deserve better. We have earned the right to be heard.”</p>

<p>Luis G. Fortuño was born October 31, 1960, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The son of a dentist, Fortuño was educated at a private high school and graduated from Georgetown University with a bachelor’s of science in foreign service in 1982. He attended law school at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, earning a J.D. in 1985, after which he returned to Puerto Rico and began practicing at one of the island’s premier law firms. He made a name for himself in the legal world of corporate finance, and in 1993 he was appointed executive director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company, where he worked to attract new business to the island. In 1994 PNP governor Pedro Rosselló selected Fortuño to lead Puerto Rico’s Department of Economic Development and Commerce, an umbrella agency that was responsible for the oversight of several government bureaus. Fortuño and his wife, Lucé, have triplets (two sons and a daughter).</p>

<p>Fortuño left the Rosselló administration a short while later and “became something of a white knight for his party, symbolizing youth and fresh ideas,” according to the Miami Herald. In what appeared to be a changing of the guard, Rosselló declined to run for re-election, and Fortuño joined a crowded field seeking the PNP nomination. He withdrew in June 1999, however, and resumed practicing law for clients as far away as Florida. A member of the Republican National Committee from Puerto Rico, Fortuño kept a low profile until 2003, when he entered the race for Resident Commissioner.</p>

FORTUÑO, Luis G., a Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico; born in San Juan, P.R., October 31, 1960; B.S.F.S., Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., 1982; J.D., University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va., 1985; lawyer, private practice; executive director, Puerto Rico Tourism Company, 1993-1996; secretary, Puerto Rico Economic Development and Commerce, 1994-1996; elected as a New Progressive to the One Hundred Ninth Congress to a four-year term (January 3, 2005-January 3, 2009); caucused with the Republican Party; was not a candidate for reelection to the One Hundred Eleventh Congress in 2008, but was a successful candidate for Governor of Puerto Rico; Governor of Puerto Rico, 2009-2013.

<p>Luis Guillermo Fortuño Burset (born 31 October 1960) is a Puerto Rican politician who served as Governor of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States, from 2009 to 2013.</p>

<p>Fortuño served as the first secretary of economic development and commerce of Puerto Rico (1994–1997), as the executive director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company (1993–1994), and as the president of the Puerto Rico Hotel Development Corporation during the administration of Pedro Rosselló. In 2004, Fortuño was elected resident commissioner of Puerto Rico, defeating Senator Roberto Prats. As resident commissioner, Fortuño represented Puerto Rico in the United States House of Representatives from 2005 to 2009; during his tenure, he served as Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Conference, as a Member of the newly created United States House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Insular Affairs and as co-chair of the Friends of Spain Caucus.</p>

<p>Fortuño won the 2008 PNP gubernatorial nomination by a wide margin after defeating former governor and then-senator Pedro Rosselló in the primaries. He then won the general election by a comfortable margin, defeating incumbent governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá. Fortuño has served as president of the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico (PNP), the Council of State Governments, and the Southern Governors Association. Fortuño sought to be re-elected as governor in the 2012 elections, but was defeated in by Alejandro Garcia Padilla.</p>