Thomas Rivera Schatz

Thomas "Tommy" Rivera Schatz is a Puerto Rican politician.

The son of José A. Rivera "Nia", a former mayor of Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, a suburb of the capital city of San Juan, and a German-ancestry housewife, Rivera-Schatz served as a legislative adviser and an assistant District Attorney after graduating from law school. He married Katherine Urbina in 1994 with whom he resides in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Rivera-Schatz serves as the New Progressive Party's electoral commissioner before the Puerto Rico State Elections Commission. During the 2004 elections he described himself as a "statehood militant," and was an integral part of the NPP's effort to invalidate the results of the 2004 elections, which, as confirmed by a U.S. federal district court, declared Aníbal Acevedo Vilá as winner over former Governor Pedro Rosselló González.

He is also known for his aggressive (some say caustic) communication skills, and is considered by his many critics to have an irrational and confrontational style.

After the 2004 elections, he engineered the firing of NPP Secretary General María Milagros Charbonier Laureano, and became the new Secretary General of the NPP. Under his leadership, the party's debts have grown and on May 9, 2007 was sued by its landlord for $193,000 in unpaid rent and asked to vacate the property, the first time a Puerto Rico political party goes through such dire financial circumstances.

He is a paid political analyst for WKAQ radio station, where he co-hosts a daily political-debate program. He also practices law while continuing to serve as the NPP's Electoral Commissioner and Secretary General. For his full-time duties as the NPP's electoral commissioner, he receives a full-time salary, even with his extra-curricular incursions in other activities. He has opposed bills to require electoral commissioners to file annual financial reports to the Government Ethics Office.

Some pro-statehood hard-liners feel sympathy for Rivera Schatz, while most people feel his style and unconditional loyalty to party president Pedro Rosselló's aspirations have damaged his party's image and structure.

After Senate President Kenneth McClintock refused to step aside and allow defeated gubernatorial candidate Pedro Rosselló to become Senate President, Rivera Schatz successfully pressed sanctions against McClintock and the five other NPP senators who supported him. The sanctions were nullified by the San Juan Superior Court on May 8, 2007 in what is considered a judicial defeat for the current NPP leadership.

In his free time, he collects and restores antique automobiles and motorcycles.