Special Report October 18, 2026

Champions of Puerto Rico Statehood in Congress

They put their names on the bills, cast the votes and took the floor for the nearly 3.2 million people of Puerto Rico, where American citizens cannot vote for President or elect a voting member of Congress. Every Boricua should know who they are.

By NAPREC Editorial Team · October 18, 2026 · Leer en español

  • Rep. Darren Soto
  • Rep. María Elvira Salazar
  • Jenniffer González-Colón
  • Rep. Steny Hoyer
  • Sen. Martin Heinrich
  • Rep. Ritchie Torres
  • Rep. Don Young

Puerto Rico's voters have chosen statehood in every referendum since 2012, most recently with 58.6% in November 2024 (CEE certification). Yet the island's nearly 3.2 million residents (Census, July 2025) still cannot vote for President, and their only voice in Congress is a Resident Commissioner who cannot vote on the final passage of any bill.

Only Congress can change that, and a determined group of lawmakers from both parties has carried the fight there. On December 15, 2022, their work produced the first Puerto Rico status bill to pass either chamber since 2010: the House approved the Puerto Rico Status Act, 233 to 191. This is who led that fight, and what they did.

  • 3.18Mpeople in Puerto Rico, where citizens have no vote for President
  • 4 for 4statehood wins in every referendum since 2012
  • 58.6%chose statehood in the November 2024 plebiscite
  • 233–191House vote passing the Puerto Rico Status Act, Dec. 15, 2022

Spotlight: two Floridians, two parties

Two members from Florida, home to one of the largest Puerto Rican communities in the nation, show how statehood crosses party lines: a Democrat from Central Florida and a Republican from Miami. Both voted for the Status Act in 2022.

Rep. Darren Soto (D-FL)

Rep. Darren Soto, official U.S. House portrait
Rep. Darren Soto, Florida's 9th District. Official U.S. House portrait.
“Americans in Puerto Rico reached a clear consensus: their destiny lies with statehood.”Rep. Darren Soto, March 2, 2021

Darren Soto, the first Puerto Rican elected to Congress from Florida (NBC News), has been one of the House's leading advocates for Puerto Rico statehood. He represents Central Florida's 9th District, which includes Kissimmee and Osceola County.

What he has done:

  • Led the Puerto Rico Statehood Admission Act (2021). On March 2, 2021, Soto and then-Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González-Colón introduced H.R. 1522 to admit Puerto Rico as the 51st state, with 52 original cosponsors from both parties and 81 by the end of that Congress (official bill record).
  • Helped write and pass the Puerto Rico Status Act (2022). Soto was one of the lawmakers who worked with Chair Raúl Grijalva to craft the compromise bill. He was an original cosponsor of H.R. 8393 and voted Yea when the House passed it on December 15, 2022 (House Roll Call 529).
  • Reintroduced it in 2023. He joined Reps. Steny Hoyer, Raúl Grijalva, Nydia Velázquez and González-Colón to bring the Status Act back on April 20, 2023 (Hoyer press release).
  • Kept pushing in 2025. In December 2025 he restated his position plainly on X: “I support PR statehood. In 2022, I helped lead the charge to pass the historic PR Status Act out of the House.” He added that he expects a real chance to pass another status bill in the next Congress, according to The Floridian.

His case, in his own words (March 2, 2021): “Our quest for statehood is about respecting democracy and equality in Puerto Rico.” His record goes back to his first year in Congress: in 2017 he was the only cosponsor of H.R. 260, González-Colón's Puerto Rico Admission Act (official bill record), and in 2019 he was an original cosponsor of the Puerto Rico Statehood Admission Act, H.R. 4901 (official bill record).

Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-FL)

Rep. María Elvira Salazar, official U.S. House portrait
Rep. María Elvira Salazar, Florida's 27th District. Official U.S. House portrait.
“I look forward to seeing the Puerto Rican star on our American flag.”Rep. María Elvira Salazar, March 2, 2021

María Elvira Salazar represents Miami's 27th District. Since taking office in 2021, she has cosponsored the Statehood Admission Act and both versions of the Status Act, and she was one of 16 House Republicans who voted for the Status Act.

What she has done:

  • Original cosponsor of the Statehood Admission Act (2021). She signed on to H.R. 1522 the day it was introduced, March 2, 2021 (Salazar press release).
  • Cosponsored and voted for the Status Act (2022). She cosponsored H.R. 8393 on July 18, 2022, and voted Yea when the House passed it on December 15, 2022 (House Roll Call 529).
  • Cosponsored it again in 2023. She joined the reintroduced Status Act, H.R. 2757, on May 11, 2023 (official bill record).

More champions in Congress

Statehood has never been a one-party cause in Congress. Democrats and Republicans have signed the bills, and 16 House Republicans voted for the Status Act in 2022 (House Roll Call 529).

  • Jenniffer González-Colón, official portrait
    R-PR

    Jenniffer González-Colón

    Resident Commissioner 2017–2025; Governor of Puerto Rico since January 2025

    Introduced H.R. 260 to admit Puerto Rico as a state (2017); co-led the Statehood Admission Act (2021) and the Status Act (2022, 2023).Nothing comes above the people's will.April 20, 2023
  • Rep. Steny Hoyer, official portrait
    D-MD

    Rep. Steny Hoyer

    Former House Majority Leader; not seeking re-election in 2026

    Cosponsored the Statehood Admission Act in 2021 (official bill record), then brokered the Status Act compromise and brought it to the House floor in 2022.Puerto Rican people do not want to be a colony and the United States of America does not want to be a colonialist power.May 19, 2022
  • Sen. Martin Heinrich, official portrait
    D-NM

    Sen. Martin Heinrich

    U.S. Senator, New Mexico

    Introduced the Senate's Puerto Rico Statehood Admission Act, S. 780 (2021), and led the Senate Status Act (2023).Congress now has a moral responsibility to respond.March 2, 2021
  • Rep. Ritchie Torres, official portrait
    D-NY

    Rep. Ritchie Torres

    The Bronx, 15th District

    Original cosponsor of the 2021 Statehood Admission Act and the 2023 Status Act; voted for the Status Act in 2022.Puerto Rico's current status represents a deep rot at the very core of American democracy…April 20, 2023
  • Rep. Don Young, official portrait
    R-AK

    Rep. Don Young, in memoriam

    Alaska, 1973–2022; died March 18, 2022

    Sponsored H.R. 856, the United States-Puerto Rico Political Status Act, which the House passed 209 to 208 on March 4, 1998 (Voteview). Original cosponsor of the statehood admission bills of 2019 and 2021 (official bill record).

Other original cosponsors of the 2021 Statehood Admission Act include Reps. Mario Díaz-Balart, Carlos Giménez, Gus Bilirakis, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Kathy Castor, Lois Frankel and Andrew Garbarino (full list). The late Rep. Raúl Grijalva, then chair of House Natural Resources, sponsored the 2022 Status Act, and Reps. Nydia Velázquez and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez co-led it. That bill lets voters choose among statehood, independence and free association. All three backed the process, not statehood itself: none of them cosponsored the statehood admission bills (official bill record).

The road so far

Puerto Rico voters Congress

  1. 2012 plebiscite: 61.2% statehood
  2. 2017 plebiscite: 97.2% statehood, amid a boycott and low turnout
  3. 2020 referendum: 52.5% yes
  4. Statehood Admission Act filed
  5. House passes Status Act, 233 to 191
  6. Status Act reintroduced
  7. 2024 plebiscite: 58.6% statehood
  8. New Congress: no statehood bill yet

Puerto Rico's voters have answered four times. Since 2012, Congress has passed one status bill in one chamber, and no statehood bill has been reintroduced since the new Congress opened in January 2025.

What you can do before November 3

The one status bill now pending, H.R. 9246, filed on June 10, 2026 by Resident Commissioner Pablo José Hernández, would also list “Commonwealth (Estado Libre Asociado)” as a ballot option (see our Statehood for Puerto Rico fact sheet). The Congress elected on November 3 will decide whether the fight moves forward, and Puerto Ricans living in the states help choose it: all 435 House seats and 35 Senate seats are on the ballot.

  1. Vote on November 3. Check your registration and polling place with your state's election office, through NAPREC's voter services or vote.gov.
  2. Know where they stand on statehood. Find out each candidate's position on Puerto Rico statehood before you vote, through their website, debates, town halls and voting record. Ask them: Do you support admitting Puerto Rico as a state? Will you cosponsor statehood legislation in the next Congress? Will you commit to that in writing? For the facts behind the questions, read our Voting and Representation and Statehood for Puerto Rico fact sheets.
  3. Thank the champions. Call or write the lawmakers on this page. A thank-you from a constituent is remembered when the next vote comes.
  4. Ask the rest to commit. Ask your representative and senators to cosponsor statehood legislation in the next Congress. Find and contact your members of Congress.
  5. Join NAPREC and spread the word. Join the coalition, then share this report, our fact sheets on all 20 issues and our civic tools to register and contact Congress with family and friends, so they can take action too.

NAPREC is nonpartisan. It does not endorse or oppose any candidate or party. This report describes lawmakers' public records on Puerto Rico status legislation.

Sources

Photos: official U.S. House and Senate portraits, public-domain works of the U.S. government, via the unitedstates/images project. The photo of Rep. Young is shown in black and white in his memory.