Cheíto Hernández is a New Progressive Party (Partido Nuevo Progresista) member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives, representing District 3. Hernández was first elected in 2022, winning a New Progressive Party special election held to fill the vacancy left when Representative Juan Oscar Morales moved to the Senate. Hernández edged Christopher Ríos Aponte by 41 votes, about 51 percent to 49 percent, and was sworn in on December 12, 2022. Hernández won a full term in the November 2024 general election in a close race against Eva Prados of the Citizens’ Victory Movement, who led in the early count before advance and mail ballots were tallied and conceded in December 2024.1
José “Cheíto” Hernández Concepción represents a district within the municipality of San Juan. Before joining the House, Hernández served as a member of the San Juan Municipal Legislature and as vice president of the New Progressive Party’s organization in the capital’s third precinct.
In the House, Hernández chairs the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. In that role Hernández has pressed the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority over drinking water outages in San Juan, and in 2026 summoned the utility’s president to a public hearing on a bill that would require the authority to inspect any breakdown that interrupts drinking water service within 24 hours.
