Democrats field Corina Magofna for Precinct 3 special polls

The Democratic Party of the Northern Mariana Islands central executive committee announced yesterday its endorsement of Corina L. Magofna as the party’s candidate to the House of Representatives in the upcoming special election for Precinct 3.

The governor has yet to publicly announce the special election but signed the proclamation on Aug 19, 2021. Early voting will be held from Oct. 9 to 15 with the special election to be held on Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021. The Commonwealth Election Commission will announce designated polling places soon.

The Democratic Party of the NMI has chosen to field Magofna for this special election, which is being called due to the untimely passing of the late representative Ivan Blanco’s unfinished term.

The party pointed out that Magofna, who was also the party’s Precinct 3 candidate at the November 2020 election, was just 34 votes short of securing victory.

A Democratic Party of the NMI statement yesterday that announced Magofna’s candidacy acknowledged that Precinct 3 is one of the most difficult precincts for a Democrat to secure victory due to its voter’s demographic composition. “[So] for Corina to come this close to taking the last seat speaks volume of her constituents’ trust and confidence in her credibility and electability,” the statement said.

“Corina was ready to serve in 2020, and did not hesitate to reach out to the party to confirm her willingness to run again in the upcoming special election,” said Democratic Party chair Nola Kileleman Hix. “Aside from our party’s endorsement, she has overwhelming support from several members of our communities, and all of the candidates who ran in 2020, including our elected Democrat leaders. I’m excited for her tenacity and optimism in restoring fiscal responsibility to our CNMI government. On behalf of the party I ask the voters of Precinct 3 to allow her to represent them with their votes of confidence, as I am more than confident she will make the CNMI proud.”

Democratic Party of the NMI central executive committee member and Precinct 3 voter Jesus M. Elameto said, “I support Corina Magofna for her willingness to help our people. We need to give her a chance to serve because we definitely need a person with a financial background to be accountable for our public funds.”

Corina Magofna

Magofna has a bachelor’s degree in Business Accounting from the University of Phoenix, and an associate degree in Accounting from the University of Hawaii. For the past three and half years, she was the budget officer at the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.

“Corina is a strong, intelligent woman with financial analytics that I’ve seen her apply during last year’s campaign trail. Her expertise and ideas are needed and I ask all of our supporters and Precinct 3 voters to reach out to their family and friends for their votes on Oct.r 16,” said Luella Marciano, Democratic Party of the NMI secretary.

Sen. Edith Deleon Guerrero, who is a Central Executive Committee member, said, “Corina has no other agenda than to work for and in the best interest of our people. Our people deserve public servants like Corina.”

For more information, contact Magofna on Facebook or email her at corina.magofna@gmail.com

Magofna has been actively participating in leadership activities and will be facilitating tonight’s virtual town hall event with the Democratic lawmakers of the House and Senate along with Speaker Edmund Villagomez. The town hall event will begin at 5:30pm on the Democratic Party of the Northern Mariana Islands Facebook Page and online participants will be able to submit questions and comments live.

The virtual town hall is part of a series of public meetings aimed at improving the transparency and accessibility of the CNMI Legislature. Democrats are keeping their promise to regularly engage with constituents, report on activities in the Legislature, and listen to concerns. In May, the lawmakers led town halls in all seven precincts across Saipan, Tinian, and Rota. The Aug. 25 event will be the first online town hall using social media.

Community members are invited to submit questions or issues of concern ahead of time. Visit Bit.ly/Townhall_2021 to fill out the short online form.  For more information, contact nmidems.sm@gmail.com or 484-3367 (484-DEMS). (PR)