On January 5, 1968, the party was belatedly certified as an official political group by the State Elections Commission of Puerto Rico.

Smaller vote totals were obtained by the Partido del Pueblo led by Governor Roberto Sánchez Vilella and the candidate from the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP), Antonio González.

The governing party was saddled by Sánchez Vilella's break-away candidacy, who had feuded with the PPD founder and former Governor Luis Muñoz Marín.

The opposition party, the PDP (which was in control of the legislature at the time), organized hearings in which they attempted to prove the whole incident was planned by the administration of Gov.

In 1988, San Juan Mayor and former Resident Commissioner Baltasar Corrada del Río ran as the NPP candidate for governor but lost the race to Hernández Colón, who won a third term.

Rosselló launched an anti-crime campaign known as "Mano dura contra el crimen" ("Strong hand against crime") in which the Puerto Rico National Guard was used to assist the Island police force.

In 1998, the sale of the state-owned Puerto Rico Telephone Company (PRTC) to GTE for $1.9 billion[citation needed] led to a general strike organized by labor unions and backed by opposition forces.

His period as governor was marked by the Vieques protests and major economic growth[citation needed] due to the coincidence of the emerging Internet.

Pre-election polls had him at a considerable advantage over his PDP opponent, San Juan mayor Sila María Calderón.

As the election grew closer, Calderón closed the gap as Pesquera's image was harmed by a PDP campaign focusing on corruption under Rosselló's tenure.

It also did not[citation needed] help Pesquera that the Acting US District Attorney Guillermo Gil said in June 2000 (three months before the November 2000 election) "corruption has a name and it is called the New Progressive Party" while announcing a grand jury indictment.

The grand jury had accused 18 people — including two mayors from Rosselló's NPP — of running an extortion scheme that skimmed $800,000 in kickbacks from a $56 million government contract.

[14] The former House Speaker and Republican National Committee Man, Edison Misla Aldarondo was also charged with extortion by the US Attorney's Office, and was forced to resign.

[vague] In March 2003, Rosselló, who had been living in the Commonwealth of Virginia, returned to the island, responding[citation needed] to the many calls and visits he received from prominent citizens and politicians.

After his performance in televised debates, Acevedo's campaign gained momentum, aided in part[citation needed] by the favorable press he received from the island media outlets.

[citation needed] McClintock and four other senators won in San Juan Superior Court a suit to nullify the sanctions and expulsions that the party leadership has levied against them.

She lost to Fortuño's candidate, Pedro Pierluisi, and to another Rosselló supporter who was also defeated, former Senate President, Charlie Rodríguez.

At a November 4, 2007, rally called "Con Fuerza para Vencer" (With the Strength to Win), Díaz said, "In this primary the life of this party is in jeopardy.

San Juan mayor Jorge Santini also made strong statements against Fortuño during the primary campaign, as he supported Rosselló.

On November 4, 2008, the NPP retained and expanded super-majorities in the Legislative Assembly, and won both the Resident Commissioner and Governor race by a landslide.

Fortuño failed to win reelection on Nov. 6, 2012, his running mate Pedro R. Pierluisi Urrutia became Puerto Rico's top vote-getter[clarification needed].

[citation needed] On September 24, 2020, Jorge Báez Pagán became the first openly gay member of the House of Representatives in the island's history.

[19] In January 2021, the new delegation of 21 PNP elected officials pledged to not increase taxes citing an unemployment rate of 14% in Puerto Rico.

[20] Instead governor Pierluisi opted for cuts in pensions to balance the budget, which was received with protests from 18 unions in Puerto Rico.

His last chief of staff, Miguel Romero, and his Secretary of State (and first in line of succession), Kenneth McClintock, are Democrats, while his last Attorney General, Guillermo Somoza, is a Republican.

The logo's original[citation needed] version consisted of a light blue palm tree, partially encircled by words in a semicircle (the exact color hue for the logo being that of the United Nations flag, as a result of a personal request from party founder Luis A. Ferré[citation needed]).