Puerto Ricans brave rain and long lines to vote in a general election that promises to be historic

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico is holding elections that will be historic regardless of which of the top two gubernatorial candidates wins.

If Jenniffer González of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party wins Tuesday's election, it will mark the first time in the island’s history that the party secures three consecutive terms.

If Juan Dalmau, who is running for Puerto Rico’s Independence Party and Citizen Victory Movement, wins, it will be the first win for a candidate outside of the two main parties that have dominated the island’s politics for decades.

Trailing González and Dalmau in polls is Jesús Manuel Ortiz of the Popular Democratic Party, which supports the island’s territorial status. Also running is Javier Jiménez of Project Dignity, a conservative party created in 2019.

Thousands of voters across the U.S. territory stood in long lines clutching umbrellas, undeterred by heavy rain.

“I feel that for the first time, there is an opportunity for change,” said Jorge Hernández, a 24-year-old arts student as he waited to cast his vote. “The bipartisanship is losing strength. I have faith that there can be real change.”

For decades, the New Progressive Party and the Popular Democratic Party would receive at least 90% of all votes, but that began to change in 2016. Newer parties are attracting more voters given Puerto Rico's economic and political turmoil while a younger generation is decrying corruption, persistent power outages and a lack of affordable housing, among other things.

Education, health and public safety also were on voters' minds as they marveled at the long lines despite the rain.

“I've never seen it like this,” said Nadja Oquendo, a 62-year-old retiree.

Faviola Alcalá, a pro surfer, said she was voting for the first time and was thrilled to see the line at her polling station.

“I love it,” she said, adding that she wants a break from Puerto Rico's two main parties and more opportunities for young people.

Among the voters who stepped out despite the rain was reggaetón superstar Bad Bunny, who has derided the pro-statehood party and made a brief appearance at Dalmau's campaign closer.

“I trust that we the people of Puerto Rico will make the right decision for the future of our people,” he told reporters.

Long lines were reported at several polling stations given malfunctioning voting machines and other issues, including power outages.

Some voters turned on their phone's timers to see how long they stood in line while others munched on snacks as a street vendor cried out, "Cold water! Cold water!"

Ommy González, a 25-year-old bartender who was voting for the first time, carried a fold-out chair and a water bottle.

“I'm very excited,” he said. “Obviously we want something different for the people.”

González said he wants a stronger economy and education system and denounced persistent political corruption: “Stop taking money and misspending it.”

Several voters said they were surprised at how quickly minority and new parties have become serious threats to the stronghold the two main parties have had on Puerto Rico's politics.

“I didn't see this happening so early on, but I'm glad,” said Giulianna Abreu, a 33-year-old publicist.

Long lines persisted after the official closing of polls at 5 p.m. local time Tuesday, and people already in line were allowed to vote. Results could take days. In 2020, it took officials four days to release preliminary results.

Dalmau, however, said he believed results for the governorship would be ready by late Tuesday.: “We are hopeful that this country will take a historic step."

Puerto Rico’s State Elections Commission is still counting more than 220,000 early and absentee votes, with counting starting more than two weeks later than usual. Jessika Padilla, the commission’s alternate president, said some 40% of those votes had been counted as of Monday.

“This validation process is one that we are not going to take lightly,” she said.

More than 5,000 inmates out of some 7,400 total also have voted, although it’s unclear how many of those votes have been counted.

Officials also are still receiving allegations about electoral crimes, including from people who said they received confirmations for early voting when they made no such request.

On Tuesday, voters also will be asked for a seventh time about Puerto Rico’s political status. The nonbinding referendum offers three options: statehood, independence and independence with free association, under which issues like foreign affairs, U.S. citizenship and use of the U.S. dollar would be negotiated.

“We're going to work to give our people equality,” said Jenniffer González of the pro-statehood party.

Party officials have long noted that despite being a U.S. territory, Puerto Rico receives unequal treatment when it comes to Medicaid, Medicare and other federal programs.

Regardless of the referendum's outcome, a change in status requires approval from the U.S. Congress.

Some voters on Monday said that statehood is the only thing that will help pull Puerto Rico out of its slump.

In addition, Puerto Ricans on Tuesday can support Kamala Harris or Donald Trump in a symbolic vote if they wish. While Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens, those on the island are not allowed to vote in U.S. presidential elections.

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Juan Dalmau, Puerto Rico's Independence Party candidate for Governor, arrives to a polling station to vote in general elections in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo)

An election official sorts ballots during general elections in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo)

Jenniffer González, Puerto Rico's New Progressive Party candidate for Governor, arrives to vote in the general elections in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo)

Jenniffer González, Puerto Rico's New Progressive Party candidate for Governor, shows her ballot during general elections in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo)

Juan Dalmau, Puerto Rico's Independence Party candidate for Governor, shows his ballots during general elections in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo)

Voters line up at a polling station during general elections in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo)

Voters line up at a polling station during general elections in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo)

Juan Dalmau, Puerto Rico's Independence Party candidate for Governor, arrives with his family to vote in general elections in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo)

Supporters carry the Puerto Rican flag before Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris arrives to speak at a campaign rally, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024, in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)

A campaign poster promotes New Progressive Party gubernatorial candidate and Puerto Rico’s representative in Congress Jenniffer González, above a campaign poster of resident commissioner candidate Luis Villafañe, defaced with the Spanish words for corrupt and rogue, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo)

A view of La Perla neighborhood in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. (AP Photo by Alejandro Granadillo)

A billboard promoting Puerto Rico’s Independence Party and the Citizen Victory Movement gubernatorial candidate Juan Dalmau towers over a highway, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024.(AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo)

A supporter waves a Puerto Rican Independence Party flag while holding a campaign poster promoting the Citizens' Victory Movement mayoral candidate Manuel Natal, during a caravan in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo)

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday dismissed his popular defense minister, Yoav Gallant, in a surprise announcement that came as the country is embroiled in wars on multiple fronts across the region. The move sparked protests across the country, including a mass gathering that paralyzed central Tel Aviv.

Netanyahu and Gallant have repeatedly been at odds over the war in Gaza. But Netanyahu had avoided firing his rival before taking the step as the world's attention was focused on the U.S. presidential election. Netanyahu cited “significant gaps” and a “crisis of trust" in his Tuesday evening announcement as he replaced Gallant with a longtime loyalist.

“In the midst of a war, more than ever, full trust is required between the prime minister and defense minister,” Netanyahu said. “Unfortunately, although in the first months of the campaign there was such trust and there was very fruitful work, during the last months this trust cracked between me and the defense minister.”

In the early days of the war, Israel's leadership presented a unified front as it responded to Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack. But as the war has dragged on and spread to Lebanon, key policy differences have emerged.

While Netanyahu has called for continued military pressure on Hamas, Gallant had taken a more pragmatic approach, saying that military force has created the necessary conditions for at least a temporary diplomatic deal that could bring home hostages held by the militant group.

In a late-night news conference broadcast on national TV, Gallant said that he had disagreed with Netanyahu over three main issues: the need to end controversial exemptions from the military draft for ultra-Orthodox men, the urgent need for a hostage deal and the need to establish an official commission of inquiry into the political and security failures of Oct. 7, when Hamas militants stormed into Israel and killed 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage. Israel estimates that about 100 hostages remain in captivity, only about 65 of them still alive.

With military service compulsory for most Jews, Gallant said that drafting the ultra-Orthodox was both an issue of fairness and security at a time when Israel faces so many challenges.

He said a hostage deal was needed “as quickly as possible, when they are still alive” and said there will be “no forgiveness” for neglecting them. And he said a full investigation into the events of Oct. 7 was the only way to ensure the government would learn the proper lessons. Netanyahu has rejected calls for an inquiry, saying it should only take place when the war is over.

Gallant ended his statement by honoring the soldiers serving in the army and those who have died in the wars. He held up his hand and saluted as he walked away from the podium.

Many of the families of the hostages, along with tens of thousands of people who have joined anti-government protests, accuse Netanyahu of scuttling a deal in order to maintain his hold on power.

Netanyahu's hard-line partners have threatened to bring down the government if he makes concessions to Hamas, raising the risk of early elections at a time when the prime minister's popularity is low. This week, authorities announced the arrest of a Netanyahu aide on suspicion of leaking classified information to foreign media that gave the prime minister political cover as hostage talks fell apart.

“Firing Gallant in the middle of a war is an act of madness,” opposition leader Yair Lapid said on X. “Netanyahu is selling Israel’s security and the Israeli army soldiers for a disgraceful political survival.”

Israel's president, Isaac Herzog, whose largely ceremonial office is meant to help unify the country, called the dismissal “the last thing Israel needs.”

The grassroots forum representing hostage families said Gallant’s dismissal is “a direct continuation of the ‘efforts’ to torpedo the abductee deal.”

Within hours, thousands of protesters gathered in central Tel Aviv, blocking the city's main highway and crippling traffic. The crowd, many holding blue and white Israeli flags and others blowing whistles and pounding drums, gathered around multiple bonfires. Several thousand people demonstrated outside Netanyahu's home in Jerusalem and elsewhere in the city. Protesters gathered and blocked roads in several other spots across the country, and Israeli TV stations showed images of police scuffling with protesters.

The dismissal comes at a delicate time. Israeli troops remain bogged down in Gaza, over a year after invading the territory in a war that has killed over 42,000 Palestinians, including tens of thousands of civilians, and caused widespread destruction, while Israeli ground troops are pressing ahead with a month-old ground invasion against Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. Hundreds of Israeli soldiers have been killed in the fighting.

Israel also has clashed with Iranian-backed groups in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, and is facing the possibility of another strike by Iran. Iran has vowed to avenge an Israeli strike that came in response to an Oct. 1 Iranian missile attack, itself a reprisal for earlier Israeli attacks on Iranian-linked targets.

On Monday, Gallant announced he had sent out thousands of draft notices to young ultra-Orthodox men. The system of exemptions for religious men has bred widespread resentment among the secular majority, and Israel's Supreme Court has ordered the government to scrap the system. Netanyahu, whose governing coalition depends on ultra-Orthodox parties, has not yet implemented the order.

Channel 13 TV said Netanyahu had also taken advantage of the U.S. election, when American attention is focused elsewhere, to dismiss his rival.

The White House on Tuesday declined to comment on the firing but called Galant “an important partner on all matters related to the defense of Israel.”

“As close partners, we will continue to work collaboratively with Israel’s next minister of defense," the White House National Security Council said.

Gallant, a former general with a gruff, no-nonsense demeanor, has emerged as the most popular figure with the public in Israel's wartime government. Gallant has worn a simple, black buttoned shirt throughout the war in a sign of sorrow over the Oct. 7 attack and developed a strong relationship with his U.S. counterpart, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

A previous attempt by Netanyahu to fire Gallant in March 2023 sparked widespread street protests against Netanyahu. He also flirted with the idea of dismissing Gallant over the summer but held off until Tuesday's announcement.

Katz, his replacement, currently serves as foreign minister and is a longtime Netanyahu loyalist and veteran Cabinet minister. Katz thanked Netanyahu and pledged to lead the security establishment to victory in the wars against Israel’s enemies.

Katz, 69, was a junior officer in the military decades ago and has little military experience, though he has been a key member of Netanyahu's Security Cabinet over the years. Gideon Saar, a former Netanyahu rival who rejoined the government in September, will take the foreign affairs post.

Netanyahu has a long history of neutralizing his rivals. In his statement, he claimed he had made “many attempts” to bridge the gaps with Gallant.

“But they kept getting wider," he said. “Our enemies enjoyed it and derived a lot of benefit from it.”

Associated Press writers Eleanor H. Reich in New York and Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed reporting.

Israelis light a bonfire during a protest after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed his popular defense minister Yoav Gallant, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Israelis light a bonfire during a protest after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed his popular defense minister Yoav Gallant, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Israelis light a bonfire during a protest after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed his popular defense minister Yoav Gallant, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

A protester holds an Israeli flag as Israelis light a bonfire during a protest after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed his defense minister Yoav Gallant in a surprise announcement in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Israeli police try to push back protesters from a main road after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed his defense minister Yoav Gallant in a surprise announcement in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Israeli police try to push back protesters from a main road after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed his defense minister Yoav Gallant in a surprise announcement in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Israelis light a bonfire during a protest after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed his popular defense minister, Yoav Gallant, in a surprise announcement in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Israelis light a bonfire during a protest after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed his popular defense minister Yoav Gallant, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Israelis light a bonfire during a protest after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed his popular defense minister Yoav Gallant, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Israelis light a bonfire during a protest after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, in a surprise announcement in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Israelis light a bonfire during a protest after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed his defense minister Yoav Gallant in a surprise announcement in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Israeli police try to push back protesters from a main road after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed his defense minister Yoav Gallant in a surprise announcement in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, speaks to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, left, at the opening of the 25th Knesset session marking the anniversary of the "Iron Swords" war, in Jerusalem, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. (Debbie Hill/Pool Photo via AP)

Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, left, and Chief of the General Staff Lieutenant-General Herzi Halevi, attend a ceremony marking the Hebrew calendar anniversary of the Hamas attack on October 7 last year that sparked the ongoing war in Gaza, at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem, Israel Sunday Oct. 27, 2024. (Gil Cohen-Magen/Pool Photo via AP)