José Aponte Hernández

José F. Aponte Hernández (born January 19, 1958) is an accountant and former Speaker of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico.

Personal life Aponte was born in San Juan. Graduated from Colegio Católico Notre Dame High School in Caguas, Puerto Rico. He obtained a bachelor's degree in Accounting from the University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras in 1980. He is married to Aida I. Rodríguez Roig, and has two sons and one daughter. He currently resides in San Lorenzo. He was the New Progressive Party (PNP) General Secretary during the Rosselló administration. One of his older brothers, Néstor, is a state appellate judge, while another, Jorge, was the Director of the Office of Management and Budget during the Rosselló administration.

Career He served as Secretary-General of the New Progressive Party from 1996 to 1997 (acting) and 1997 to 1999.

Aponte was appointed to fill the vacancy left by his brother Néstor Aponte Hernández, as Representative from the 33rd District, after he resigned to become an Appellate Court Judge. Aponte was elected as Representative in the 2000 general elections, and was re-elected as an At-Large Representative in the 2004, 2008, and 2012 general elections.

After the New Progressive Party elected 32 members of the 51-seat House of Representatives in the 2004 general elections, Aponte was elected the 28th Speaker of the House on January 10. He is also a member of the Puerto Rico Republican Party. He was defeated in his bid for re-election for Speaker by the new 37-member majority New Progressive Party caucus, which elected then Government Affairs Committee Chairwoman, Jenniffer A. González Colón.

Aponte has advocated for statehood supporting a project for statehood in 2010 and asking congress in 2016 to prioritise admitting Puerto Rico as a state .

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Aponte spoke out against retailers who were operating game machines in their establishments, explaining that if the casinos were not allowed to operate during the pandemic neither should these smaller establishments.

In February 2023, he pleaded for statehood for Puerto Rico before the Congress of the United States of America..