President Danilo Medina, in the final meeting with the members of the Central and Political Committee, had urged the party members to find the votes to “at least take the Senate.” The PLD had controlled the Senate for the past 16 years. Congress was best known for rubber-stamping what came from the Executive Branch.
The preliminary vote counts indicate that the opposition party will govern with a majority in the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. Several long-standing PLD senators were voted out.
The opposition takes the Senate. Senator candidates with the votes to win their seats are:
National District: Faride Raful (PRM)
Azua: Dr. Lia Diaz (PRM)
Bahoruco: Melania Salvador (PRM)
Dajabón: David Sosa (PRSC)
Duarte: Franklin Romero (PRM)
El Seibo: Santiago Zorrilla (PRM)
Espaillat: Carlos Gomez (PRM)
Hato Mayor: Dr. Castillo (PRM)
Hermanas Mirabal: Bauta Rojas (PRSC)
La Altagracia: Virgilio Cedano (PRSC)
La Romana: Ivan Silva (PRM)
La Vega: Rogelio Genao (PRSC)
Maria Trinidad Sanchez: Alexis Victoria (PRM)
Monseñor Nouel: Hector Acosta (PRM)
Montecristi: Moreno Arias (PRM)
Monte Plata: Lenin Valdez (PRM)
Peravia: Milciades Franjul (PRM)
Puerto Plata: Ginnette Bournigal (PRM)
Samana: Pedro Catrain (PRM)
San Cristobal: Franklin Rodriguez (FP)
San Jose de Ocoa: Jose Antonio Castillo (Bloque Institucional Social Democrata)
Sanchez Ramírez: Ricardo de los Santos (PRM)
Santiago: Eduardo Estrella (Dominicanos por el Cambio)
Santiago Rodríguez: Antonio Marte (PRSC)
Santo Domingo: Antonio Taveras Guzmán (PRM)
Valverde: Eddy Nolasco (PRM)
The PLD takes these provinces:
Barahona: Jose del Castillo (PLD)
Independencia: Valentín Medrano (PLD)
Pedernales: Dionis Sanchez (PLD)
San Juan de la Maguana: Felix Bautista (PLD)
San Pedro de Macoris: Franklin Peña (PLD)
The vote is too close to call in Elías Piña between the PLD and PRM candidates.
Among the long-time senators that will be leaving are: Amilcar Romero (Duarte), Euclides Sanchez (La Vega), Tommy Galán (San Cristóbal), Jose Rafael Vargas (Espaillat), Cristina Lizardo (Santo Domingo), Amable Aristy (La Altagracia), Heinz Vieluf Cabrera (Montecristi), Wilton Guerrero (Peravia), Sonia Mateo (Dajabón), Amarilis Santana (La Romana), Rafael Calderón (Azua), Reinaldo Pared Perez (National District), Charlie Marriotti (Monte Plata), Julio César Valentin (Santiago).
A feature in N Digital points out the lack of logic in the composition of Congress. The feature highlights how a senator of Pedernales and the province of Santo Domingo have the same weight when voting in Congress. Yet, a senator running in Santo Domingo has to win the majority of 1,677,364 eligible voters or 22.28%, while the person winning in Pedernales needs but to win the favor of 12,312 voters, or 0.16% of the total.
Read more in Spanish:
JCE
N Digital
6 July 2020