 The 1980 elections was the most controversial as many PPD followers said that the elections were stolen in which the PPD won the elections except for the governor candidacy in which almost every election the parties wins with straight-party ballots.This election was similar to the 2004 and 2012 elections, decided by less-than-one-percent margins.In his second term Puerto Rico was badly hit by a severe recession starting in 1980 and ending in 1983,
The unemployment drastically rose to 25% in 1983 the highest since the Great Depression.