A blackboard on the sidewalk next to a bar’s door advertised a happy hour, a weekly comedy show, and the evening’s special event: a meet-and-greet with Eva Prados, a candidate for the Citizen Victory Movement (MVC, in Spanish) in San Juan’s District 3. The bar, Starr, is in Bushwick, a predominantly Latino and Puerto Rican neighborhood in Brooklyn. The goal for the event on July 10, 2024, was to raise $1,000.

In contrast, Jenniffer González, the gubernatorial candidate for the New Progressive Party (PNP), will hold a closed-door fundraiser in September with politicians and former Republican officials at a private club in Washington, D.C., where the suggested donations range from $500 to $3,100 per person. The Centro de Periodismo Investigativo (CPI) requested to attend this event but was denied. González’s press spokesperson, Marieli Padró, stated, “All of González’s fundraising events are private.”

Last year, Jesús Manuel Ortiz, the gubernatorial candidate for the Popular Democratic Party (PPD), and Pablo José Hernández, PPD candidate for resident commissioner, held several meetings in Orlando with the “Puerto Rican Popular Diaspora,” according to the party’s website. One of the goals was to “mobilize diaspora resources to support the PPD in elections through fundraising activities.”

These types of fundraising target different segments of a population that, although residing in the United States and unable to vote in Puerto Rican elections, can still make individual donations to candidates and parties. They also contribute through Political Action Committees (PACs) registered in the U.S., such as Sunnova Energy Corporation PAC and Squire Patton Boggs, which have donated to González. Sunnova Energy and Squire Patton Boggs have contracts with the Puerto Rican government.

Between January, after officially announcing her candidacy, and July of this year, following her primary win, González received 95 donations totaling $200,762. According to the CPI’s analysis, this positions her as the gubernatorial candidate with the most funds raised from  U.S.donors  during that period.

The analysis included donations from donors from the U.S. to Puerto Rican gubernatorial candidates from January 2024, when all their candidacies had been made official, through July, as these are the latest available data. For political parties, the analysis covered the entire four-year period from January 2021 to July 2024. Data was sourced from the Office of the Electoral Comptroller on August 28. Donations from the U.S. to candidates for other elected positions were not included.

Among the five parties contesting the upcoming general elections in Puerto Rico, MVC, founded in 2019, has received the highest number of donations and funds from the U.S. between January 2021 and July 2024. The MVC received 560 individual donations totaling $25,075, primarily from Florida, New York, and Texas, where large Puerto Rican populations reside. Donations also came from Missouri, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, and Hawaii.

The Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) received 147 donations from the U.S., while the PNP received 12 during the same period. Despite receiving 135 fewer donations, the PNP surpassed the PIP in total funds raised. The PIP’s individual donations amounted to $12,370, compared to the PNP’s $17,875.

The Dignity Project (PD) party, founded in 2019, raised $5,082 through 19 donations, while the PPD received nine donations totaling $7,850.

In January 2023, the PIP and MVC formed an electoral alliance called Alianza de País for the November 5 general elections. Together, but separately, they raised $37,445 from U.S. donors from January 2021 to July 2024, far exceeding the total donations received by the PNP, PPD, and PD. But, as electoral coalitions are not permitted in Puerto Rico, these parties cannot collect funds as a single political committee.

One party or candidate may receive multiple donations from the same person, so the total number of contributions does not equate to the number of donors.

Overall, individual donations from  U.S. donors to all Puerto Rican parties from January 2021 to July 2024 totaled $68,252. Campaign committees for gubernatorial candidates collectively raised $223,435 from January to July.

Small Donations Outnumber Large Ones

The average donation received by Jenniffer González from  U.S. donors is $2,113, compared to $1,054 for Jesús Manuel Ortiz and $116 for Juan Dalmau. Meanwhile, the MVC’s average donation is $44, and the PNP’s is $1,489.

Luis Cámara Fuertes, a professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras campus, noted a “marked distinction” in the average donations received by different parties and candidates from donors from the U.S.

“One could assume that those donating to Jenniffer González are from a higher economic stratum than those donating to Dalmau, as they are donating much more,” Cámara Fuertes said, though he noted that the available data is insufficient for specific conclusions.

Most U.S. donations come from Puerto Ricans, though U.S. residents also contribute to Puerto Rican parties and candidates.

Regarding motivations for large donations from those not residing in Puerto Rico, Cámara Fuertes suggested that donors might be looking for potential government contracts or to sell goods.

“In Puerto Rico, as in the U.S., large donations are sometimes seen as a political investment. If the recipient wins, they may buy from or hire the donor,” Cámara Fuertes said.

At least 52 of the 95 donations received by Jenniffer González from the U.S. were made by U.S. residents, two of which were made through PACs, making her the candidate with the most donations from this type of donor.

Ten of González’s donations from the U.S. were for $3,000, and 48 were for $3,100, the maximum allowed by law.

Tomas Hexner of Cambridge, Massachusetts, an independent consultant who has written academic articles on Puerto Rico’s economy, and Monica Hexner, also of Cambridge, donated $3,100 on May 22, 2024.

Brittany Perkins Castillo, Nabor Gerardo Castillo, and Randal Perkins, all executives at AshBritt Environmental, a Florida-based disaster management company, made three additional maximum donations on April 22, 2024.

Perkins ran for Congress in Florida in 2016. In 2018, the Florida Attorney General accused his company of improperly inflating cleanup prices after Hurricane Irma, a case still under investigation. In 2021, Perkins paid a $125,000 fine to the Federal Election Commission due to AshBritt’s illegal $500,000 donation to a PAC supporting Donald Trump. The day before that donation, AshBritt signed a $460,000 contract with the Department of Defense, ProPublica reported.

AshBritt is one of six companies selected in September 2023 for a $5 billion contract with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to stabilize Puerto Rico’s electrical grid.

Of the ten $3,000 donations González received, three were from Gay Lynn McClelland, Lyndsey Michele McClelland, and William Mark McClelland on April 22, 2024. Casey A. McClelland donated $3,000 on May 15.

This aligns with a pattern described in a Hedge Clippers investigation, which notes that individuals coordinate with partners or relatives to donate collectively to the same political figures, often on the same day, to circumvent donation limits.

González and Ortiz Share Donors

Jesús Manuel Ortiz, the PPD’s gubernatorial candidate, raised $16,865 from 16 donations from the U.S. between January and July of this year. Ortiz’s donations include five for $3,100. One was from Jay Alexander Wolf, managing partner at Juniper Capital, made on July 2 from California

Juniper’s website states that the firm acquired 1,027 acres in Puerto Rico in 2022 for $370 million to build a luxury five-star hotel with a golf course. It notes that the land is in an “opportunity zone,” designated by the federal government as exempt from taxes, though it does not specify the exact location. Other $3,100 donors include Alejandro Javier Krys and Juliana Mikelle Krys. Javier Krys is an investor and managing member of Juniper Capital.

Jay Wolf, Juliana Mikelle Krys, and Olivia Krys also donated $3,100 to Jenniffer González’s committee between July 29 and 30.

Among Ortiz’s donors is Gabriel Fernández Ferrer, founder and CEO of Truenorth Corporation, a contractor for the Puerto Rican government, including the State Election Commission. The executive donated $700 from Florida in March and $3,100 on July 1, following Ortiz’s primary win. His partner, Lorena Noriega Olivares, donated the same amount on the same day.

Javier Jiménez Pérez, the PD’s gubernatorial candidate, raised $1,013 from seven donations from the U.S. The largest donation to Jiménez Pérez was $600 from Florida, in-kind. Juan Dalmau, the PIP’s gubernatorial candidate and part of the Alianza, raised $4,795 from 41 donations from U.S. donors during the same period. The largest donation Dalmau received was $500 from a donor from Connecticut.

Political Influence from Afar

Eva Prados’ New York fundraising event, attended by around 20 people, was organized by an MVC division called Red de la Diáspora (Diaspora Network), which promotes the party among the approximately 6 million Puerto Ricans living in the U.S. Jasmín Sánchez is the division’s delegate in New York.

“What can we do as a party to include people who left [Puerto Rico] even though they didn’t want to? We can’t vote, but we can influence the vote,” Sánchez said while asking attendees to write their names and emails on a list.

The PIP also maintains an X (formerly Twitter) account dedicated to the diaspora. Its gubernatorial candidate, Juan Dalmau, has a section on his website focused on the diaspora with a proposal called “Regreso y Reconstrucción,” (Return and Reconstruction) aimed at encouraging the return of Puerto Ricans who have emigrated to the U.S., describing mass migration as a demographic issue.

The PPD has a section on its website called “Nuestra Diáspora,” (Our Diaspora) featuring a message from Jesús Manuel Ortiz, party president, stating that Puerto Ricans in the U.S. “have historically worked closely with the Popular Democratic Party.” A form is available for people to fill out to support the party in activities like “voter mobilization” and “fundraising.”

The PNP and PD websites do not refer to the Puerto Rican population in the U.S.

Diaspora Remains Connected to Puerto Rican Politics

July 10 was not the first time Starr Bar in Bushwick, where rock bands or electronic music DJs usually perform, had hosted Puerto Rican alternative party candidates on its stage. Previous candidates included Dalmau and Ana Irma Rivera Lassén, who’s running for resident commissioner with MVC and La Alianza.

On the night of Prados’ event, a roundtable discussion followed her presentation. The audience, mostly middle-aged men from the New York diaspora, discussed concerns about Puerto Rico, such as government debt, the decline of the electricity system after privatization under LUMA, and rising housing costs.

“Puerto Ricans abroad often maintain a strong connection to Puerto Rico and care about what happens here,” said Cámara Fuertes. “That’s why they donate to Puerto Rican parties, even though they can’t vote for them.”

Reviewing available data through June, Cámara Fuertes noted that donations were sparse, “not only in money but also in the number of donations, considering that many more Puerto Ricans live in the U.S. than in Puerto Rico.” However, he noted that the number of donations from the U.S. might increase starting in August as the political campaign season intensifies.

When asked why an alternative party like MVC would lead in U.S. fundraising during the typically slow campaign period from January to July, Cámara Fuertes responded, “Logic suggests that if someone moves there, they expect a better life in the U.S., which implies that their life in Puerto Rico wasn’t very good. So, one would expect those who move there to have a negative view of what’s happening here in Puerto Rico, which might explain why there are more donations to Victoria Ciudadana from the U.S., than to the PPD and PNP.”

During the same fundraiser for Prados in New York, Sánchez, the Red de la Diáspora delegate, occasionally reminded the audience to make their donations.

The first donor to use the QR code with the Venmo app was a white man from Princeton, New Jersey, living in Bed-Stuy, North Brooklyn. Freelance photographer Elliot Golden, 28, votes for more left-leaning Democratic candidates in the U.S.

“I am mostly interested (in MVC) because I have three dear Puerto Rican friends living in Puerto Rico, and through them, I know a bit about some of the struggles going on. I am not Puerto Rican myself, but I think the history of New York City and Puerto Rico is very connected, so If I can help in any small way,” Golden said, shortly before making his $50 donation.

At 8:49 p.m., Sánchez announced over the microphone that they were $350 short of the $1,000 goal. At 9:14 p.m., she announced triumphantly, “We reached the goal.”