- Victoria Muñoz Mendoza
Victoria "Melo" Muñoz Mendoza (born 1940) is a former
politician fromPuerto Rico . She is the daughter of the first democratically elected governor of Puerto Rico,Luis Muñoz Marín , founder of the Popular Democratic Party and his second wife,Inés Mendoza . Muñoz Mendoza was the first woman inPuerto Rican history to seek the seat ofGovernor of Puerto Rico .Education
Muñoz attended
high school in San Juan. She went to theUniversity of Puerto Rico , where she received a degree inLiterature in 1958.Political career
Muñoz Mendoza first went into active in politics in 1984 when she made an unsuccessful bid to become
Mayor of San Juan. In 1986, she was chosen to replace a senator in theSenate of Puerto Rico . She held the seat for seven years, after having been re-elected in 1988.In 1992, she became the first woman to seek the governorship of Puerto Rico. She faced
Pedro Rosselló of theNew Progressive Party and ended up losing by a landslide. She retired from politics soon after her electoral defeat.In 2000,
Sila María Calderón was elected Governor of Puerto Rico, becoming the first woman to do so. Muñoz Mendoza vehemently campaigned and endorsed her, fulfilling her dream of having a female Governor.
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