2020 Northern Mariana Islands general election

2020 Northern Mariana Islands general election
	Delegate election
Delegate before election; Gregorio Sablan; Independent	Elected Delegate ; Gregorio Sablan; Independent
	Senate election
← 2018 2022 →
	3 of the 9 seats in the Senate; 5 seats needed for a majority
Republican	5
Independents	3
Democratic	1
	House election
← 2018 2022 →
	All 20 seats in the House of Representatives; 11 seats needed for a majority
Republican	9
Democratic	8
Independents	3

The 2020 Northern Mariana Islands general election were held on Tuesday, 3 November, 2020,^[1] corresponding with the 2020 United States general elections. Voters in the Northern Mariana Islands voted for the non-voting delegate to the United States House of Representatives, 3 seats in the Northern Mariana Islands Senate, all twenty seats in the Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives, seats for the municipal council, seats for the board of education, 1 justice, and 2 judges.

This election oversaw the return of the CNMI Democratic Party as a major force in CNMI politics for the first time in a decade.^[2]^[3] 2020 also saw the first time a party was able to challenge the CNMI Republican Party since the Covenant Party was dissolved in 2013. Four incumbent representatives that were elected as independents announced that they would run for re-election as Democrats while another independent aligns with the party.^[4]^[5]^[3] Prior to the 2020 election, the Democrats had not won a legislative seat since their last wins in the 2007 general elections. The result of the 2020 general election was that the CNMI had experienced a blue wave, with the Democrats controlling nearly half the house and adding a member to the senate. The Republicans lost the trifecta it held since the 2016 Northern Mariana Islands general election and the single-party system it held since 2013. Voter turnout was at 72.05%, lower than the previous general elections election years of 2018, which was 77.4%, and 2014, which was 76.7%.^[6]

Background

Delegate to the US House of Representatives

Incumbent Delegate Gregorio Sablan, an independent who caucuses with the Democratic Party, ran uncontested for re-election. Sablan, first elected in 2008, had held the seat since its creation in 2009. Delegate Gregorio Sablan was re-elected.^[2] The Northern Mariana Islands' non-voting delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives are elected for a two-year term.

Northern Mariana Islands's at-large congressional district^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan (incumbent)	11,449	100.00%	+36.23%
Total votes			11,449	100.00%
	Independent hold

Northern Mariana Islands Commonwealth Legislature

Results summary

Parties		House Election Results		Seat Change	Party Strength

Parties		2018	2020	+/−	Strength
	Republican	13	9	4	45.00%
	Democratic	0	8	8	40.00%
	Independent	7	3	4	15.00%
Totals		20	20		100.00%

Parties		Senate Election Results		Seat Change	Party Strength

Parties		2018	2020	+/−	Strength
	Republican	6	5	1	55.56%
	Independent	3	3		33.33%
	Democratic	0	1	1	11.11%
Totals		9	9		100.00%

Senate

The Northern Mariana Islands Senate is the upper house of the Northern Mariana Islands Commonwealth Legislature, consisting of nine senators representing three senatorial districts (Saipan & the Northern Islands, Tinian & Aguijan, and Rota), each a Multi-member district with three senators. Each district had one seat open for the 2020 elections.

Rota 1st Senatorial District (1 seat)^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Paul Atalig Manglona (incumbent)	764	53.43%
	Republican	Dennis James Camacho Mendiola	666	46.57%
Total votes			1,430	100.00%
	Independent hold

Tinian 2nd Senatorial District (1 seat)^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Karl Rosario King-Nabors	738	58.52%
	Democratic	Jose Pangelinan Cruz	523	41.48%
Total votes			1,261	100.00%
	Republican hold

Saipan 3rd Senatorial District (1 seat)^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Edith E. Deleon Guerrero	5,176	51.23%
	Republican	Sixto Kaipat Igisomar (incumbent)	4,928	48.77%
Total votes			10,104	100.00%
	Democratic gain from Republican

House of Representatives

The Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives is the lower house of the Northern Mariana Islands Commonwealth Legislature. The house has seven districts and five of the seven are Multi-member district. In 2019, a four-way race took place for a single seat in district 3 after its became vacant when Republican Rep. Francisco Dela Cruz died in January 2019. Republican Party candidate Marco Taisakan Peter was the victor.^[7] All twenty seats were up for the 2020 elections.

House of Representative - District 1: Saipan (6 seats)^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Edwin Kenneth Propst (incumbent)	1,891	10.26%
	Democratic	Celina Roberto Babauta	1,743	9.46%
	Independent	Joseph Arriola Flores (incumbent)	1,594	8.65%
	Republican	Joseph Leepan Tenorio Guerrero (incumbent)	1,560	8.46%
	Republican	Roy Christopher Aldan Ada	1,530	8.30%
	Republican	Angel Aldan Demapan	1,455	7.89%
	Republican	Roman Cepeda Benavente (incumbent)	1,298	7.04%
	Independent	Vincent Raymond Seman Aldan	1,266	6.87%
	Democratic	Peter Francis Reyes Muna	1,247	6.77%
	Democratic	Antonio Blas Cabrera	1,180	6.40%
	Independent	Luis John Deleon Guerrero Castro (incumbent)	1,120	6.08%
	Democratic	Benusto Piteg	1,036	5.62%
	Republican	Randall Dexter Masga Pangelinan	820	4.45%
	Independent	Glenn Hocog Manglona	693	3.76%
Total votes			18,433	100.00%

House of Representative - District 2: Saipan (2 seats)^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Christina Marie Elise Sablan (incumbent)	587	29.93%
	Republican	John Paul Palacios Sablan (incumbent)	534	27.23%
	Republican	Daniel Iwashita Aquino Jr.	423	21.57%
	Democratic	Luella Ichihara Marciano	417	21.26%
Total votes			1,961	100.00%

House of Representative - District 3: Saipan (6 seats)^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Edmund Joseph Sablan Villagomez (incumbent)	1,622	12.76%
	Republican	Blas Jonathan "BJ" Tenorio Attao (incumbent)	1,546	12.17%
	Republican	Ivan Alafanson Blanco (incumbent)	1,457	11.47%
	Democratic	Denita Kaipat Yangetmai	1,287	10.13%
	Democratic	Vincente Castro Camacho	1,268	9.98%
	Republican	Ralph Naraja Yumul (incumbent)	1,240	9.76%
	Democratic	Corina Lorraine Magofna	1,199	9.44%
	Republican	Marco Taisakan Peter (incumbent)	1,090	8.58%
	Democratic	Alfredo Litulumar Saures	1,051	8.27%
	Republican	Jose Ilo Itibus (incumbent)	947	7.45%
Total votes			12,707	100.00%

House of Representative - District 4: Saipan (2 seats)^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Joel Castro Camacho (incumbent)	835	32.31%
	Democratic	Sheila Therese Jack Babauta (incumbent)	731	28.29%
	Republican	Cecilia Remedio Taitano	616	23.84%
	Democratic	Jenita Babauta Castro	402	15.56%
Total votes			2,584

House of Representative - District 5: Saipan (2 seats)^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Leila Haveia Fleming Clark Staffler	1,330	36.77%
	Democratic	Richard Tudela Lizama	954	26.38%
	Republican	Lorenzo Iglecias Deleon Guerrero (incumbent)	637	17.61%
	Republican	Ramon Sablan Basa	485	13.41%
	Independent	Joseph Muna Mendiola	211	5.83%
Total votes			3,617

House of Representative - District 6: Tinian (1 seat)^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Patrick Hofschneider San Nicolas	647	51.72%
	Democratic	Frederick Arend Dela Cruz	604	48.28%
Total votes			1,251
	Republican hold

House of Representative - District 7 Rota: (1 seat)^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Donald Manalang Manglona (incumbent)	916	64.10%
	Republican	Barry Cuthbert Toves	513	35.90%
Total votes			1,429
	Independent hold

Municipal Council

Municipal Council - Saipan & Northern Islands (non-partisan)^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Antonia Manibusan Tudela	6,332	51.02%
	Nonpartisan	Ana Demapan Castro (incumbent)	6,080	48.98%
Total votes			12,412

Municipal Council - Tinian & Aguiguan (non-partisan)^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Joseph Romaldo Evangelista Santos	856	24.78%
	Nonpartisan	Michael Nap King Aldan	795	23.01%
	Nonpartisan	Thomasa Rita Palacios Mendiola (incumbent)	658	19.04%
	Nonpartisan	Juanita Masga Mendiola	575	16.64%
	Nonpartisan	Joseph Manglona Manglona	571	16.53%
Total votes			3,455

Municipal Council - Rota (non-partisan)^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Willian Apatang Taitano	799	21.52%
	Nonpartisan	Jonovan Hocog Lizama	765	20.60%
	Nonpartisan	Jim Michael Atalig	647	17.43%
	Nonpartisan	Michael Cain Sikebert	612	16.48%
	Nonpartisan	Lorita Mesngon Mangolna	590	15.89%
	Nonpartisan	Abraham Manglona Ogo	300	8.08%
Total votes			3,713

Board of education

Board of Education - Saipan & Northern Islands (non-partisan)^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Maisie Bermudes Tenorio	7,248	48.50%
	Nonpartisan	Gregory Pat Borja	4,860	32.52%
	Nonpartisan	Stephen Carl Woodruff	2,837	18.98%
Total votes			14,945

Board of Education - Rota (non-partisan)^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Herman Manglona Atalig (incumbent)	985	100.00%
Total votes			985

Justices

Justice^[2]	For retention		Against retention		Total
Justice^[2]	Votes	%	Votes	%	Total
Robert Camacho Naraja	9,836	81.28%	2,266	18.72%	12,102

Judges

Judge^[2]	For retention		Against retention		Total
Judge^[2]	Votes	%	Votes	%	Total
Robert Camacho Naraja	10,236	84.48%	1,881	15.52%	12,117
Kenneth Lewis Govendo	9,592	79.96%	2,404	20.04%	11,996

References

^ "Alcohol ban on Election Day". Saipan Tribune. 2020-11-02. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t "2020 CNMI General Election Results". Commonwealth Election Commission. 2020-11-17. Archived from the original on 2021-08-12. Retrieved 2024-04-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^ ^a ^b Manglona, Thomas (June 19, 2020). "CNMI's democrats looking for a comeback". www.kuam.com. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
^ "Why I'm running as a Democrat and why the CNMI needs a two-party system". Saipan Tribune. 2020-06-18. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
^ "Four lawmakers declare as Democrats; one aligns with bloc". Saipan Tribune. 2020-06-16. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
^ "Big 76.52% voter turnout". Saipan Tribune. 2022-11-13. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
^ Post, Emmanuel T. Erediano | For The Guam Daily (2019-03-26). "Peter wins House special election". The Guam Daily Post. Retrieved 2023-06-10.

[1] "Alcohol ban on Election Day". Saipan Tribune. 2020-11-02. Retrieved 2023-06-02.

[:0-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t "2020 CNMI General Election Results". Commonwealth Election Commission. 2020-11-17. Archived from the original on 2021-08-12. Retrieved 2024-04-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)

[:1-3] Manglona, Thomas (June 19, 2020). "CNMI's democrats looking for a comeback". www.kuam.com. Retrieved 2024-05-08.

[4] "Why I'm running as a Democrat and why the CNMI needs a two-party system". Saipan Tribune. 2020-06-18. Retrieved 2023-06-02.

[5] "Four lawmakers declare as Democrats; one aligns with bloc". Saipan Tribune. 2020-06-16. Retrieved 2023-06-02.

[6] "Big 76.52% voter turnout". Saipan Tribune. 2022-11-13. Retrieved 2023-06-02.

[7] Post, Emmanuel T. Erediano | For The Guam Daily (2019-03-26). "Peter wins House special election". The Guam Daily Post. Retrieved 2023-06-10.

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