David Bernier

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Bernier

David Enrique Bernier Rivera[b] (Spanish pronunciation: [da%CB%88%CE%B2i%C3%B0 enˈrike βeɾˈnjeɾ riˈβeɾa]; born January 21, 1977) is an odontologist and politician that has served in various roles in public service in Puerto Rico. Bernier first served as executive director of the Office of Youth Affairs of Puerto Rico and was later confirmed as the youngest Secretary of Sports and Recreation of Puerto Rico in history. Four years later, he was unanimously confirmed as Secretary of State of Puerto Rico for the administration of Alejandro García Padilla. He was the 2016 candidate for Governor of Puerto Rico of the Popular Democratic Party.

Ideologically, Bernier is affiliated with two parties: one within Puerto Rico and another within the United States as a whole. Within Puerto Rico, he currently presides the Popular Democratic Party (PPD in Spanish) and identifies as a sovereigntist—a member of a faction within the PPD that advocates for Puerto Rico to enter a compact of free association with the United States rather than continuing the status quo. At the national level, however, Bernier is a member of the Democratic Party of the United States and a staunch supporter of President Barack Obama.

Outside politics, Bernier was an accomplished athlete. He was a member of the Puerto Rican national fencing team, in which he represented the island in the Pan American Games and in the Central American and Caribbean Games. As a Pan American athlete he was a Pan American Youth Champion for three consecutive years. He also won a bronze medal in the 1998 Central American and Caribbean Games celebrated in Maracaibo, Venezuela.

His accomplishments as an athlete eventually led him to public service. As an accomplished youngster, governor Sila María Calderón decided to appointed Bernier to lead the Puerto Rico Office of Youth Affairs in 2003. Two years later, governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá appointed him as Secretary of Sports of Puerto Rico. But as a different political party took over the government, Bernier opted to leave his incumbency after four years of service. A few months later he was elected president of the Puerto Rico Olympic Committee. In that capacity Bernier led the efforts to organize the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games celebrated in Mayaguez. A few years later and as he was preparing for his reelection for president of the committee, governor Alejandro García Padilla appointed him as Secretary of State of Puerto Rico. In that role, Bernier transformed the Department of State of Puerto Rico by creating the Morales Carrión Diplomatic and Foreign Relations School, by opening several Puerto Rican trade promotion offices in foreign countries, and by reducing the backlog of business charters filings and intellectual property filings. Bernier, however, left his incumbency once again but this time to run for governor of Puerto Rico in the 2016 general election for the Popular Democratic Party.

Today, Bernier is campaigning across the island in preparation for his candidacy as governor. He began his tour in February 2016 under the name "Tour Colorao" (English: Red-colored Tour) in reference to his redheadedness.