Governor Carlos Romero-Barcelo

CARLOS ROMERO-BARCELO was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1932. He graduated from Yale University and the University of Puerto Rico School of Law. After establishing a career as a San Juan attorney, Romero-Barcelo entered politics in 1965. He was named president of a movement known as “Citizens for the 51st State.” That group merged with others in 1967 to form United Statehooders, which evolved into the pro-statehood New Progressive Party. Romero-Barcelo was named the party’s first candidate for mayor of San Juan in 1968 and won two four-year terms in that office. As mayor, Romero-Barcelo served on the board of directors of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and in 1974 became the first and Hispanic-American elected to the presidency of the National League of Cities. In 1976, Romero-Barcelo was elected governor and he was reelected in 1980. The governor served on the President’s Council on Education of Disadvantaged Children and chaired the Southern Governors’ Association in 1980-81. He also served as secretary of the Democratic Governors’ Conference. After his term as governor, Romero-Barcelo served in Congress, representing 3.7 million American citizens as the Resident Commissioner in the 106th U.S. Congress for the territory of Puerto Rico.