Danilo Wins Presidency Despite PRD’s NYC Dominance

Danilo Medina and Margarita Cedeño de Fernandez win the election

By Lennin Reyes

The Bronx Journal Staff Writer

Along 176th Street in the Bronx, four blocks separate the offices of the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) and the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD).  As the results of the Dominican presidential election pour in May 20th, two starkly different moods pervade the party headquarters.

Uphill at the PRD’s office, it feels like Off-Track Betting (OTB) during the Kentucky Derby, with members huddling around speakers to listen to the results. The tension turns to anger when opponent Danilo Medina leads Hipólito Mejía 51 percent to 46 percent in the first bulletin. “The first bulletin was just counting the major cities,” members of the PRD murmur. “Just wait ’till they count the votes in the campo (or the rural areas).”

Hipólito Mejia

Downhill, members of the PLD have mixed emotions. While they are ecstatic about the early lead, there is still nervousness as members call relatives in the Dominican Republic to learn about results.  “With Dominican television channels and social media, we all get the results at the same time,” German de Leon of the PLD’s external sector says.

Around 10 p.m., those in the PLD hushed to listen to the second bulletin on Telemicro International. The silence erupted into cheers as Danilo Medina retained his 51-46 lead over Mejía.

An hour later, the third bulletin confirms Medina’s victory over Mejía. Even though the PRD lost, they still have reasons to celebrate. “Not only did Mejía win in New York (with 54 percent), but our party won the diputados de ultramar (Congressmen for Dominicans Abroad),” Pedro Julio Escoborg of the PRD’s Bronx sector says.