[PULSE.NG] Secretary of State Wanda Vazquez, Rossello's number two, was set under the constitution to take over on August 2 as interim governor for the island which is gripped by a decade-long recession.After two weeks of street protests triggered by comments that mocked gays, women and hurricane victims, Rossello confirmed in writing on Thursday that he would quit.
"I would like to underscore that I am not interested in the post of Governor," Vazquez said, in Spanish, on Twitter.
"I do hope that the Governor identifies and nominates a (new) candidate for the job of Secretary of State before August 2. And I have made that clear to him," she said.
While Puerto Ricans rejoiced at Rossello's departure, many wanted completely new leadership for the territory, whose residents are US citizens.
They said those with close ties to Rossello are tainted, and a social media hashtag #WandaRenuncia called for her to resign.
Protest rallies started July 13, when the Center for Investigative Journalism released 889 pages of text chats on the encrypted messaging app Telegram.
In the texts, Rossello and 11 other male administration members made fun of women, gays, victims of Hurricane Maria in 2017, journalists and other politicians.
Among those they made homophobic jokes about was San Juan native pop star Ricky Martin.
The messages were widely seen as the painful last straw for people fed up with years of economic stagnation, corruption, government mismanagement and a slow and sloppy recovery effort after Maria, which killed nearly 3,000 people in September 2017.