Incumbent New Progressive Party Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced, who succeeded to the governorship on August 7, 2019, was eligible to run for a full term in office, which she announced on December 16, 2019.

However, Vázquez Garced lost her bid when former Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi won the New Progressive Party membership vote on the nomination for governor.

Pierlusi's winning 33% of the vote was the lowest obtained by a successful gubernatorial candidate in Puerto Rico since the first direct election in 1948.

The Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico is the only member of the United States House of Representatives who is elected every four years instead of a two-year term.

On December 27, 2019, the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) filed its list of candidates for the general election, including Sen. Juan Dalmau as governor.

[7][8] On May 5, 2020, the CEE (State Commission on Elections) certified the candidacy of Eliezer Molina after a legal dispute over the amount of endorsements required to ratify his nomination.

On December 10, 2019, former governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá of the PPD announced that he would run for a second non-consecutive term for resident commissioner.

[12] On December 27, 2019, the Puerto Rican Independence Party nominated Dr. Luis Roberto Piñero for resident commissioner.

On February 5, 2020, the Citizen's Victory Movement had a general assembly, where Dr. Zayira Jordán Conde was chosen as the candidate for resident commissioner.

The referendum asked one yes-or-no question:[13] "¿Debe Puerto Rico ser admitido inmediatamente dentro de la Unión como un Estado?"