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Ray Palacios will not seek re-election
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Posted on Mar 30 2012
By Haidee V. Eugenio
Reporter
Reporter
Rep. Ray Palacios (Cov-Saipan) said yesterday he will not be seeking re-election this November as he needs to focus on clearing his name, months after he was charged with drug trafficking.
“I’m confident my name will be cleared,” Palacios told Saipan Tribune during a Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation session yesterday morning.
This is Palacios’ second time to represent Precinct 2 in the House of Representatives where he served as chairman of the Education Committee until stepping down from the post in November due to the drug charges against him.
He said, however, that he will continue to support the Covenant Party. One of the two Covenant candidates for Precinct 2 is his nephew, John Paul P. Sablan, whom Palacios said he will help. The other candidate is incumbent Rep. Ralph Demapan (Cov-Saipan), his cousin.
When asked about his plan after his term ends in January, Palacios said, “Let’s see what happens.”
Meanwhile, the special committee that House Speaker Eli Cabrera (R-Saipan) tasked last year to investigate Palacios’ alleged drug use has yet to complete its report.
House floor leader George Camacho (Ind-Saipan) chairman of the Special Standing Committee on Official Conduct and Ethics, said yesterday that the panel can’t disclose the contents of the report it is working on but that it will be completed before the midterm elections.
In other news, Rep. Trenton Conner (R-Tinian) told reporters Wednesday that he may run for a Senate seat representing Tinian.
