Republican Party has 31 candidates

Sen. Francisco Q. Cruz and Jude U. Hofschneider

Senate President Jude U. Hofschneider and Sen. Francisco Q. Cruz are seeking re-election as senators for Tinian under the NMI Republican Party, which is fielding a total of 31 candidates, including several new faces, for this Nov. 8 general elections.

A copy of the NMI Republican Party’s list of candidates obtained by Saipan Tribune yesterday shows that the party, led by Gov. Ralph DLG Torres, who is seeking re-election with Sen. Vinnie F. Sablan as his running mate, has a full-slate of candidates for the Senate and mayors for Saipan, Rota, Tinian, and the Northern Islands.

The GOP also has a full-slate of candidates for the House of Representatives, except for Precinct 1, where the party has five bets for six positions.

The Republican Party has yet to disclose whether it has a candidate to challenge the candidacy of Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (D-MP), who is seeking his eight term as CNMI delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives.

For the Senate Saipan seats, Rep. Angel A. Demapan and former representative Janet U. Maratita are running.

For the Tinian Senate seats, Hofschneider and Cruz are seeking re-election.
For the Rota Senate seats, Rota Mayor Efraim M. Atalig and special assistant for Department of Homeland Security Dennis C. Mendiola are the GOP’s bets.

For House Precinct 1, the Republican Party has only one incumbent representative who is seeking re-election—Rep. Roy A. Ada. The four other candidates are Frankie Fernando Angel, Arlene Marie M. Reyes, Patrick Cepeda, and Lucinda R. Salepeo.

For House Precinct 2, the candidates are Keith C. Ada and Eric B. Esteves.

For House Precinct 3, Grace Sablan, Ana Demapan Castro, Quiad O. Ngirchongor, Alfred L. Saures, Carl Hocog, and Joaquin Sablan make up the full slate.

For House Precinct 4, Cecilia R. Taitano and David Randy R. Sablan are running.

For House Precinct 5, the GOP is fielding Lorenzo I. Deleon Guerrero and Thomas John DLC Manglona.

For House Precinct 6 (Tinian), Rep. Patrick H. San Nicolas is seeking re-election.

For House Precinct 7 (Rota), Ivan T. Mereb Jr. is running.

For mayors, the party has Rep. Joseph Lee Pan T. Guerrero for Saipan, Tinian Mayor Edwin P. Aldan is seeking re-election, Commonwealth Economic Development Authority board chair Aubry M. Hocog is competing for Rota, and Valentino N. Taisacan Jr. is gunning for the Northern Islands.

Jonathan Cabrera, interim chair of the NMI Democratic Party, said yesterday that once the CEC has formally endorsed all their candidates, they will make a formal announcement on their list of candidates.