Romero-Barceló, Carlos, 1932-2021

Carlos Antonio Romero-Barceló (September 4, 1932 – May 2, 2021) was a Puerto Rican politician. A member of the New Progressive Party, he notably served as Governor of Puerto Rico from 1977 to 1985 and as Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico from 1993 to 2001.

Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, he moved to New Hampshire to attend Phillips Exeter Academy; following his graduation there, he earned a B.A. from Yale University and a LL.B. from the University of Puerto Rico Law School. Romero-Barceló became a licensed lawyer in 1956. Romero-Barceló started his political career as the director of the pro-statehood group Citizens for State 51. From 1965 to 1967, he worked his way up to the PNP leadership. Only 36 years old, but increasingly popular, he successfully ran for mayor of San Juan in 1968. As mayor, Romero-Barceló modernized the city’s waste disposal services, and he worked to combat drug addiction and poor housing in San Juan. His tenure as mayor made him a household name, and in 1976 the PNP picked him as its gubernatorial candidate and Romero-Barceló rode a wave of anti-incumbent frustration to a convincing victory in the general election. Romero-Barceló made statehood a pillar of his administration. The governor had long viewed the island’s commonwealth status as a deliberately nebulous concept that was little more than an outdated “interim compromise." After narrowly winning re-election in 1980, he lost his bid for a third term in 1984.

Briefly returning to his law practice, Romero-Barceló was elected by his party to fill a vacancy in the Senate of Puerto Rico, a position for which he did not seek re-election in 1988, returning to practice law once more from 1989 to 1992. In the 1992 elections, Romero was elected to the 103rd and 104th United States Congress as Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico, and relocated to Washington, D.C. He was re-elected to the 105th and 106th United States Congress as well. During his tenure as Resident Commissioner he campaigned for Puerto Rican statehood, successfully proposed to Congress the derogation of the 936 tax code and endorsed the Young Project, which sought to call a referendum to resolve Puerto Rico's political status. Defeated in 2000 for election to the 107th and 108th Congresses and unsuccessful in his attempt to gain the PNP nomination for election to the 109th and 110th Congresses, he remained active in PNP political gatherings, the Puerto Rico Democratic Party, the United States Democratic party, and was a member of the League of United Latin American Citizens.

On July 3, 2017, he was appointed by Governor Ricardo Rosselló as Puerto Rico's first United States Shadow Senator to the U.S. Senate under the Tennessee Plan approved by Act No. 30 of June 5, 2017 of the Puerto Rico Legislature. He remained in this role until his death in San Juan, Puerto Rico.