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Local GOP activity continues; Ada meets with RNC in S. Carolina
Rep of Jeb Bush set to arrive this week
Local GOP activity continues ahead of the Republican National Convention, scheduled for Cleveland, Ohio in July 2016.
Alan Philp, a representative of presidential candidate Jeb Bush, is set to arrive on island this Thursday, local GOP spokesperson Ivan Blanco said last week.
James Ada, local GOP president, also represented the CNMI at the winter meeting of the Republican National Convention late last week in Charleston, South Carolina, where he spoke some words about the late governor Eloy S. Inos’ passing.
Ada also met with Republican president candidate Dr. Ben Carson, among other officials and RNC members.
According to video taken of the event in South Caroline, Ada spoke to members about the passing of Inos and asked for a moment of silence. Ada recalled the “sad moment” of holding a groundbreaking for a federal highway project on island without the late governor, the morning after he passed. Ada called the project—the final phase of the Route 31 project on Capital Hill—one of [Inos’] dreams.”
“It was a very sad moment for us in the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands,” Ada said, speaking to a crowd. “Three days ago we buried our governor, one of the best governors we ever had.”
On Thursday, the CNMI is set to receive another visit from a representative Republican presidential nominee hopeful.
Philp—former policy director to Florida governor Jeb Bush and former Deputy chief of staff to Colorado Governor Bill Owens—will be the third representative out to the Northern Marianas, after Jason Osborne, a Carson strategist, and Alan Cobb, consultant to presidential hopeful Donald Trump, visited island in past weeks.
Osborne, a senior strategist for Republican candidate Dr. Ben Carson, also told Saipan Tribune of Carson’s plans to create a Territory and Commonwealth Advisory Committee consisting of representatives from American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. Carson also plans to appoint a special assistant to the President responsible for day-to-day interaction with the territories and commonwealths.
Osborne said these officials would advise Carson of what he can do, either through his administration, or by putting together a package for legislation in Congress, to address issues like Obamacare, which does not apply to the CNMI, or how territories can serve U.S.-flagged vessels while the CNMI cannot.
Every Republican candidate—with the exception of Ohio governor John Kasich—has paid the $7,500 fee the CNMI GOP set to put their name on the ballot for the presidential primary, GOP officials earlier said.
For his part, Cobb said that the CNMI and Guam are of vital importance to the interests of the United States. Cobb said the islands’ issues need to be front and center, as they hold strategic importance—both economically and militarily—as the only U.S. territories in Asia. Noting that Trump is a certainly in favor of a military buildup, Cobb said, “the decision’s already been…and that makes sense,” referring to the islands’ strategic location.
On concerns about immigration, Cobb emphasized that Trump is concerned about “illegal” immigration. “You have different issues here without a border. You have basically shores that are hard to defend, and along those lines you want to make sure you have enough federal personnel.”
The local GOP has three delegates so far for the RNC in July: Ada himself, Vicky Villagomez, and Bo Palacios. They will elect six delegates in March, according to Ada.
“…The Western region—CNMI, Guam, and all the insular areas—form a very strong team, if not the largest number of delegates that can vote in the upcoming presidential nomination,” Ada said last month.
A change in U.S. Republican Party convention rules in 2012 now requires presidential candidates to win a majority of eight delegations across the mainland and U.S. territory-wide to be entered into nomination and have their delegates counted at the Republican National Convention, scheduled for Cleveland, Ohio in July 2016. This means that a Republican hopeful needs only to win eight out the 55-some states or territories to get on the national floor.
