Nine Dominicans, including two women and seven men, are running for President of the Dominican Republic in the Sunday, 16 May presidential election.
In the 2020 presidential election, Luís Abinader Corona (PRM) won in the first round with 52.53% of the vote, defeating four other candidates. Voter turnout was 54.78%. His predecessor Danilo Medina had won the 2016 election with 61.7% of the vote.
Leading polls (Gallup, Greenberg and Mark Penn/Stagwell, Centro Economico del Cibao) say Abinader will win in a first round vote with a comfortable lead of 30 points over would be runner-up former President Leonel Fernandez. To win the election 50%+ 1 of the vote is needed to win in the first round.
For the 19 May 2024 election, the Central Electoral Board (JCE) reports 7,281,763 registered voters with an additional 863,785 registered to vote abroad, for a total of 8,145,548 voters.
The candidates for President of the Republic are:
56-year old President Luís Abinader Corona is a businessman son of a former Minister of Finance, who is seeking reelection and is running for the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM). Among the family businesses is the O&M University, one of the most successful private universities in the country. This will be Abinader’s third run for Presidency. He is a graduate of economy from INTEC with post-graduate studies in project management from Arthur D. Little Institute of Cambridge, Massachusetts. For his running mate, he again chose Vice President Raquel Peña, a business woman and academic administrator.
Former Santiago Mayor, 52-year old Abel Atahualpa Martínez Durán is running for President for his first time. He is a graduate in law from PUCMM university. He represents the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD), the political party that was in power from 1996-2000, 20024-2008, 2008-2012, 2016-2020. Martinez Duran is a former president of the Chamber of Deputies from 2010 to 2016. His Vice Presidential candidate is Zoraima Cuello is a former Minister of the Presidency during the Danilo Medina administration.
70-year old former three-term President Leonel Fernandez is running for a fourth term in the Presidency. He was President from 1996-2000, and then from 2004-2008 and 2008-2012. In 2015, the Constitution was changed to enable then President Hipólito Mejía to seek the Presidency and to remove the clause that had disabled past-Presidents from running for office again. He is a UASD university professor (communications), president of the Funglode think tank and university, and lawyer. He is running for the Partido Fuerza del Pueblo, the party he founded when he split from the Dominican Liberation Party, during the Danilo Medina presidency. His Vice Presidential candidate is lawyer Ingrid Mendoza.
73-year old Miguel Octavio Vargas Maldonado is a businessman and politician running for President for the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD). He stayed with the party when party leaders, former President Hipolito Mejía (2000-2024) and Luis Abinader separated to form the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM). He has served as Minister of Public Works in the Leonel Fernandez administration (2000-2004) and Minister of Foreign Relations in the Danilo Medina administration (2016-2020). He is a graduate from the Mayaguez School of Engineering in Puerto Rico with post-graduate studies at the PUCMM. He chose Rafael Diaz Diaz for his Vice President candidate.
62-year old Maria Teresa Cabrera Ulloa is a social activist and former president of the Dominican Association of Public School Teachers (2006-2009). She is a graduate in philosophy from the UASD with a masters in sustainable development from INTEC. She ran for Vice President on the ticket with Guillermo Moreno for Alianza Pais in the 2008 election. She is now running for the Frente Amplio and Congreso Cívico minority parties. Her vice president candidate is 35-year old journalist Jesus Diaz Moran.
64-year old Fulgencio Marcelo Severino Cruz is running for Partido Patria para Todos y Todas (PPT). He is a medical doctor graduate from the UASD and who is chief of the cardiology residency at the Salvador B Gautier Teaching Hospital. His vice presidential candidate is Francisca Altagracia Peguero León
Carlos Manuel PEña Batista is 47 years old. He is an electrical engineer with a masters in government from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. His vice presidential candidate is Nikauly Yuvelisky de la Mota Acosta. He is running for the Partido Generación de Servidores (PGS).
Virginia Antares Rodriguez Grullón is at 39 years the youngest presidential candidate. She is a graduate in communications from the PUCMM with a masters in Development and Environment from the University of Sussex in the UK. Her vice presidential candidate is Domingo Ernesto Abreu Vilomar. She is the brother of Jose Horacio Rodriguez Grullon who in 2020 was the most-voted deputy candidate and is expected to repeat in Congress this year.
54-year old Roque Alejandro Espaillat Tavarez is a medical doctor and businessman who is running for the Partido Esperanza Democrática (PED). He chose José Ernesto Fadul Fadul for Vice President.
Read more:
JCE
Diario Libre
AS/COA
Americas Quarterly
IDEA
Wikipedia
Prensa Latina
16 May 2024