2008 Puerto Rican general election
The 2008 Puerto Rican general elections were held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008, to elect the officials of the Government of Puerto Rico that would serve for the next four years, most notably the Governor of Puerto Rico. The election was won by incumbent Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico Luis Fortuño (from the New Progressive Party), who defeated the incumbent Governor, Aníbal Acevedo Vilá (from the Popular Democratic Party). Fortuño received 1,025,965 votes, and Acevedo Vilá 801,071. Also, most of the other positions were won by the candidates of the New Progressive Party, who ended up with a majority of seats in the Senate and the House of Representatives. The elections occurred after one term of what was called "shared government", as a result of the 2004 elections. Because of this, the island had a Governor from one party (Acevedo Vilá), while the opposing party held a majority in the Senate and the House of Representatives. The struggles faced by the opposing parties attempts at cooperation, mixed with the global economic crisis, paved the campaign for this elections. Also, Acevedo Vilá was facing criminal accusations at the time. Fortuño was sworn in as Governor of Puerto Rico on January 2,