Against the backdrop of a dire economic crisis and continued damage from 2017's devastating Hurricane Maria, Puerto Ricans took the polls on Tuesday in what has been declared one of the tightest gubernatorial races in the U.S.
Caribbean territory. But what is also "in-the-air" is the paving of the way to becoming a U.S. state. As of Wednesday morning, gubernatorial candidate Pedro Pierluisi of the New Progressive Party – which supports statehood – held a slight lead of around 12,000 votes over his main opponent, Carlos Delgado of the Popular Democratic Party, which has campaigned on retaining the island's current commonwealth status.
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