 That same year Ferré was elected representative in the Puerto Rico House of Representatives.He ran under the Republican Statehood Party ("Partido Estadista Republicano) and officially assumed his duties as representative on January 11, 1953.On July 23, 1967, a plebiscite was held to decide if the people of Puerto Rico desired to become an independent nation, a state of the United States of America, or continue the commonwealth relation established in 1952.