Carmen Yulín Cruz
Carmen Yulín Cruz Soto (born February 25, 1963) is a Puerto Rican politician who served as mayor of the city of San Juan, Puerto Rico from 2013 to 2020. From 2009 through 2013, Cruz served in the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico.
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Cruz and the second or maternal family name is Soto.
Carmen Yulín Cruz
Early years and studies[edit]
Carmen Yulín Cruz Soto was born on February 25, 1963, in San Juan to Carmen Irene Soto Molina from Lares and Pedro Cruz Vega.[1] She has a brother named Pedro José Cruz. Cruz inherited the second part of her given name, Yulín, from her paternal grandmother, Lutgarda Vega.[1][2] She graduated with honors from Julio Sellés Solá Elementary School[3] and attended University of Puerto Rico Secondary School where she was president of the student council as well as a representative at a presidential youth summit.[4][5]
Cruz earned her Bachelor of Arts in political science from Boston University on May 30, 1984, graduating Cum Laude.[6] She completed a Master of Science in Public Management and Policy at the Heinz College at Carnegie Mellon University on May 12, 1986, where she became the first student to receive the Spirit Award (now called the Barbara Jenkins Award),[7] given to a graduating student for service and contributions to the college and region.[8]
Political career[edit]
First years in politics[edit]
In 1992, Cruz returned to Puerto Rico and became an adviser to San Juan mayor Sila María Calderón. She ran unsuccessfully for District 1 representative in the 2000 general elections.[9]
2009–13: Representative[edit]
Eight years later, Cruz ran again for the Puerto Rico House of Representatives, this time for an islandwide at-large seat, at the 2008 elections, after nomination in the PDP primaries.[10][11] After being elected, Cruz became the PDP's Ranking Member on the Women Affairs Committee. Due to the high population of Dominican immigrants in the subdivisions of San Juan, most notably in Santurce, Cruz became involved with the Dominican American National Roundtable as a supporter.[12]
Upon launching her re-election campaign in 2011, she became the first candidate from her party to collect the required endorsements, presenting more than the 4,000 total within the time frame required to complete only 2,000.[13] At the Popular Democratic Party primaries in 2012, Cruz led all of the candidates to the House of Representatives in votes, followed by fellow soberanista (sovereigntist) Luis Vega Ramos.[14] On the original result, she had 217,162 votes counted, which surpassed the incumbent House of Representatives President Jennifer González, with a reported 216,087 in the NPP primaries.[15]
2012: Candidate for San Juan's mayorship[edit]
Cruz Soto began hinting at her interest in running for the mayorship of her native city of San Juan in early 2011, but decided to step down when opposed by the conservadores,[16] led by Popular Democratic Party president Alejandro García Padilla, who named the second in-command of that wing, representative Héctor Ferrer, to occupy the position. However, her name resurfaced following the resignation of Ferrer, who was forced to abandon the race due to a domestic abuse incident which led to a formal investigation.[17]
Other activities[edit]
On February 21, 2019, Cruz announced that she was joining Senator Bernie Sanders' Presidential campaign as one of its four national co-chairs.[39]
2021 Mount Holyoke College - Harriet L. Weissman and Paul M. Weissman Distinguished Fellow in Leadership [40]
Personal life[edit]
Cruz married psychologist and University of Sacred Heart professor[44] Alfredo Carrasquillo on September 25, 2010, three months after their relationship started. They divorced a year later, but remarried in 2013 and divorced again in 2017.[45] Cruz has a daughter, Marina Yulín Paul Cruz, from a previous marriage.[46][47]