Pat Toomey, enjoying a six to nine point advantage according to nearly every poll, picked up an endorsement today from Puerto Rican Gov. Luis Fortuno. Fortuno, only the second Republican governor of the island in six decades, has forged a reputation as a no-nonsense fiscal reformer since taking office last year.
Gov. Fortuno, speaking at a restaurant in Philadelphia, praised Toomey’s vision for Pennsylvania. A “message of lower taxes, fiscal responsibility, and reducing the size of government is resonating with voters across the state,” said Fortuno.
“I’m proud to support his candidacy for the U.S. Senate. We need more honest, principled leaders like Pat,” he said.
In accepting the endorsement, Toomey highlighted tax relief as a key tenet of his philosophy for promoting job growth. He condemned opponent Joe Sestak for “supporting massive deficits, hundreds of billions of dollars in tax increases, government-run health care, and more government burdens.”
Toomey credited Sestak’s agenda with “preventing us from achieving economy recovery.”
As governor, Fortuno has championed reform policies that include downsizing government payrolls by 17,000 to address one of the worst hit economies in the United States. Unemployment in Puerto Rico is above 17 percent.
He also cut $2 billion from the annual budget, or roughly one-fifth of the total budget.
Fortuno, born in San Juan and educated at Georgetown and University of Virginia Law School, is a strong proponent of statehood for Puerto Rico.