The 2018 Northern Mariana gubernatorial election took place on Tuesday, November 13, 2018, to elect the

Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands The following is a list of persons who served as governor of Northern Mariana Islands. The term of office is 4 years. The longest-serving governors in CNMI history are Pedro Tenorio, who served 12 years in office from 1982 to 1990 and from 1998 ...

and the

Lieutenant Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands has a self-governing government consisting of a locally elected governor, lieutenant governor and the Northern Mariana Islands Commonwealth Legislature. Incumbent Governor Eloy S. Inos died on ...

to a four-year term in office. Incumbent

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

governor

Ralph Torres Ralph Deleon Guerrero Torres (born August 6, 1979) is a Northern Marianan politician currently serving as the ninth governor of the Northern Mariana Islands since December 29, 2015. He is a Republican from Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mari ...

, who ascended to governorship in December 2015 following the death of Governor

Eloy Inos Eulogio "Eloy" Songao Inos (September 26, 1949 – December 28, 2015) was a Northern Marianan politician who served as the eighth governor of the Northern Mariana Islands from 2013 to 2015. Inos, a member of the Republican Party, also served as t ...

, sought election to a full term. The election, which corresponds to the larger Northern Mariana general election and the United States midterms, was originally scheduled to be held on Tuesday, November 6, 2018. However, Governor

postponed all elections in the territory until November 13 due to the impact of

Typhoon Yutu Typhoon Yutu, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Rosita, was an extremely powerful tropical cyclone that caused catastrophic destruction on the islands of Tinian and Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands, and later impacted the Philippi ...

, which struck the Northern Mariana Islands as a Category 5 storm in October 2018, shortly before the planned elections. Unlike past gubernatorial elections, there was no

runoff election The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resul ...

in 2018, since there are only two candidates contesting the gubernatorial contest, incumbent Ralph Torres and former governor

Juan Babauta Juan Nekai Babauta (born September 7, 1953) is a Northern Mariana Islander politician who served as the sixth governor of the Northern Mariana Islands from January 14, 2002 to January 9, 2006. Biography Early life and education Juan Babauta was ...

. On November 13, 2018, Governor Torres won his first full term as

Election background

In the 2014 gubernatorial race, Republican governor

and his

running mate A running mate is a person running together with another person on a joint Ticket (election), ticket during an election. The term is most often used in reference to the person in the subordinate position (such as the vice presidential candidate ...

, were elected to a full four-year term. The Inos-Torres ticket defeated independent candidate,

Heinz Hofschneider Heinz Sablan Hofschneider (born July 1, 1957) is a politician from the Northern Mariana Islands. Hofschneider served as the Speaker of the Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives from 2002 to 2004 and is a four-time candidate for Governor ...

, in the gubernatorial runoff on November 18, 2014. Governor Eloy Inos

died in office A death in office is the death of a person who was incumbent of an office-position until the time of death. Such deaths have been usually due to natural causes, but they are also caused by accidents, suicides, disease and assassinations. The dea ...

at a hospital in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

, on Monday, December 28, 2015 (local time in Seattle). Because of the time difference between Seattle, it was already Tuesday morning, December 29, in the Northern Mariana Islands at the time of Governor Inos' death. Lieutenant Governor Ralph Torres became the new Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands on Tuesday, December 29, to serve the remainder of Inos' unexpired term.

Victor Hocog Victor Borja Hocog (born September 11, 1953)Covenant domi ...

, the then-President of the

Northern Mariana Islands Senate The Northern Mariana Islands Senate is the upper house of the Northern Mariana Islands Commonwealth Legislature. The Senate consists of nine senators representing three senatorial districts (Saipan & the Northern Islands, Tinian & Aguijan, and ...

, was sworn in as the new Lieutenant Governor later that day on December 29. On November 8, 2017, Lt. Governor

Victor Hocog Victor Borja Hocog (born September 11, 1953)Covenant domi ...

announced that he would not run for re-election as lieutenant governor in 2018. Instead, Hocog would seek election for one of the two Senate seats representing the island of Rota in the 2018 general election. Governor Ralph Torres declared his candidacy for a full term in a press conference on November 19, 2017, at his home in

As Teo As, AS, A. S., A/S or similar may refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * A. S. Byatt (born 1936), English critic, novelist, poet and short story writer * "As" (song), by Stevie Wonder * , a Spanish sports newspaper * , an academic male voic ...

. Torres chose Senate President

Arnold Palacios Arnold Indalecio Palacios is a Northern Marianan politician currently serving as the 12th lieutenant governor of the Northern Mariana Islands since January 14, 2019. He previously represented Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands Senate. Formerly ...

as his new running mate for lieutenant governor in 2018 gubernatorial contest.

, the former Governor from 2002 to 2006, announced his candidacy on April 12, 2018, as an independent. He selected Dr. Rita Sablan, the former commissioner of the

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Public School System Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Public School System (CNMI PSS) is a school district serving the Northern Mariana Islands, a United States territory. Its headquarters are in Susupe, Saipan. Schools 7–12 schools Rota * Dr. R ...

, as his running mate for lieutenant governor. His candidacy was supported by territorial delegate

Gregorio Sablan Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan (born January 19, 1955) is a Northern Mariana Islander politician and former election commissioner. Elected in 2008, Sablan became the first delegate to the United States House of Representatives from the Commonwe ...

, an independent who caucuses with the national

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

Election postponement

The Northern Mariana Islands' general and gubernatorial elections were originally scheduled for Tuesday, November 6, 2018, to correspond with the nationwide

2018 United States midterm elections The 2018 United States elections were held on Tuesday, November 6, 2018. These midterm elections occurred during Republican Donald Trump's term. Democrats made a net gain of 41 seats in the United States House of Representatives, gaining a majo ...

. However,

made landfall in the Northern Mariana Islands as a Category 5

super typhoon Tropical cyclones are ranked on one of five tropical cyclone intensity scales, according to their maximum sustained winds and which tropical cyclone basins they are located in. Only a few scales of classifications are used officially by the mete ...

, devastating the main islands of

Saipan Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...

and

Tinian Tinian ( or ; old Japanese name: 天仁安島, ''Tenian-shima'') is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Together with uninhabited neighboring Aguiguan, it forms Tinian Municipality, one of th ...

. In response, Governor Torres postponed all elections in the Northern Mariana Islands until Tuesday, November 13, 2018, including the gubernatorial race. Early voting was held from Tuesday, November 6, 2018, until Monday, November 12, 2018.

Candidates

Republican

– incumbent Governor since December 29, 2015 **Running mate:

- President of the

in the 20th Legislature since January 9, 2017. Palacios was announced as Torres's running mate on November 19, 2017

Independent

- former Governor (2002–2006) and 2014 gubernatorial candidate; candidacy announced on April 12, 2018 **Running mate: Dr. Rita Sablan – A Democrat and former principal and two-term Education Commissioner of the

(2009–2016)

Withdrew

*Democratic **Joe Inos - former Mayor of Rota and brother of the late Gov. Eloy Inos. Announced gubernatorial candidacy on January 19, 2018. Inos withdrew from the race on February 7, 2018, citing a lack of unified support from his family. Prior to dropping out, Inos was expected to name his running mate on February 15, 2018.

Results

The gubernatorial contest was held on Tuesday, November 13, 2018, having been delayed one week due to recovery efforts from

. Early voting began on November 6. Incumbent

won re-election to his first full term.

References

{{Northern Mariana Islands elections 2018 Northern Mariana Islands elections

Northern Mariana Islands The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI; ch, Sankattan Siha Na Islas Mariånas; cal, Commonwealth Téél Falúw kka Efáng llól Marianas), is an unincorporated territory and commonw ...

2018 in the Northern Mariana Islands