BY MARK RABAGO
Saipan Correspondent
SUSUPE, Saipan — The Northern Mariana Islands is headed for runoff elections for governor and attorney general after no candidate secured a majority in the Nov. 3 general election.
Kimberlyn King-Hinds, the NMI’s delegate to Congress, won a second term. Unofficial legislative results point to independents retaining control of the House of Representatives and Republicans gaining a Senate majority.
According to unofficial results released by the Commonwealth Election Commission the morning of Nov. 4, former Gov. Ralph DLG Torres and running mate Ben Jones led the gubernatorial race with 6,437 votes, or 49.5%, followed by independent candidates BJ T. Attao and Edmund Villagomez with 5,043 votes, or 38.7%.
The third ticket of Lawrence F. Camacho and Edith Deleon Guerrero received 1,537 votes, or 11.8%. Torres led Attao by 1,394 votes but fell short of the more than 50% required to win outright, setting up a runoff between the two leading tickets, subject to CEC certification. In separate interviews, Torres and Jones said they would intensify their campaign efforts over the next two weeks, particularly through house-to-house visits.
Torres said his team’s economic platform would remain unchanged, with priorities including attracting airlines, reviving tourism, reducing electricity costs to 22c per kilowatt-hour, restoring retirees' 25% benefits, returning public school students to a five-day schedule, and restoring government the 80-hour biweekly work schedules for government employees.
He also expressed interest in reaching out to the Camacho-Deleon Guerrero campaign, whose ticket finished third, citing similarities in their economic recovery priorities.
Attao and Villagomez, meanwhile, thanked voters and supporters but said they would await certification before determining their next steps. Camacho and Deleon Guerrero also pledged to respect the final results, saying their campaign focused on practical solutions, economic stability, and restoring confidence in government.
The runoff comes as the Commonwealth continues to grapple with a struggling tourism industry, high utility costs, reduced government operations, and uncertainty over federal immigration policies affecting foreign visitors and workers. mbj
Saipan Correspondent
SUSUPE, Saipan — The Northern Mariana Islands is headed for runoff elections for governor and attorney general after no candidate secured a majority in the Nov. 3 general election.
Kimberlyn King-Hinds, the NMI’s delegate to Congress, won a second term. Unofficial legislative results point to independents retaining control of the House of Representatives and Republicans gaining a Senate majority.
According to unofficial results released by the Commonwealth Election Commission the morning of Nov. 4, former Gov. Ralph DLG Torres and running mate Ben Jones led the gubernatorial race with 6,437 votes, or 49.5%, followed by independent candidates BJ T. Attao and Edmund Villagomez with 5,043 votes, or 38.7%.
The third ticket of Lawrence F. Camacho and Edith Deleon Guerrero received 1,537 votes, or 11.8%. Torres led Attao by 1,394 votes but fell short of the more than 50% required to win outright, setting up a runoff between the two leading tickets, subject to CEC certification. In separate interviews, Torres and Jones said they would intensify their campaign efforts over the next two weeks, particularly through house-to-house visits.
Torres said his team’s economic platform would remain unchanged, with priorities including attracting airlines, reviving tourism, reducing electricity costs to 22c per kilowatt-hour, restoring retirees' 25% benefits, returning public school students to a five-day schedule, and restoring government the 80-hour biweekly work schedules for government employees.
He also expressed interest in reaching out to the Camacho-Deleon Guerrero campaign, whose ticket finished third, citing similarities in their economic recovery priorities.
Attao and Villagomez, meanwhile, thanked voters and supporters but said they would await certification before determining their next steps. Camacho and Deleon Guerrero also pledged to respect the final results, saying their campaign focused on practical solutions, economic stability, and restoring confidence in government.
The runoff comes as the Commonwealth continues to grapple with a struggling tourism industry, high utility costs, reduced government operations, and uncertainty over federal immigration policies affecting foreign visitors and workers. mbj
