Heinz Sablan Hofschneider (born July 1, 1957) is a politician from the

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 ...

. Hofschneider served as the

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

of the

Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a r ...

from 2002 to 2004 and is a four-time candidate for

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 ...

Early life and career

Heinz Sablan Hofschneider was born July 1, 1957 in Saipan to William Villagomez Hofschneider and Primitiba Roberto Sablan. He attended

Menlo College Menlo College is a private college specializing in business and is located in Atherton, California. Campus Menlo College is situated on 45-acre (0.18 km2) campus in Atherton, California, 25 miles southeast of San Francisco and 20 miles nort ...

in Atherton, California for two years. Due to the cost, he transferred to California State University at Los Angeles. At Cal State, he majored in health sciences then worked as a physician assistant.

Commonwealth Legislature

Hofschneider was first elected to the

in the 1991 general election. He finished second for six seats in the third district. Later that year, after Governor Larry Guerrero purchased a $5 million generator from Mitsubishi without a budget appropriation, Hofschneider was one of three legislators to speak of impeaching the Governor. Subsequently, his home was attacked in a drive-by shooting. After the House dropped the impeachment inquiry one month after the shooting, Hofschneider attempted an audit of Mitsubishi. The audit revealed Guerrero misappropriated funds. In 1993, Hofschneider was re-elected as an independent after being dropped from the Republican ticket in light of his criticism of Guerrero. He finished in first place in the district In 2000, Hofschneider was running against

Benigno Fitial Benigno Repeki Fitial (born November 27, 1945) is a Northern Marianan politician who served was the seventh governor of the Northern Mariana Islands. The second longest-serving governor in CNMI history, Fitial was elected on November 6, 2005, assu ...

for the position of

. During the election,

Jack Abramoff Jack Allan Abramoff (; born February 28, 1959) is an American lobbyist, businessman, film producer, writer, and convicted felon. He was at the center of an extensive corruption investigation led by Earl Devaney that resulted in his conviction ...

sent two operatives to the islands to lobby legislators on Fitial's behalf. Fitial was subsequently reelected as Speaker and Abramoff's contract was extended. In the 2018 general election, Hofschneider ran as an independent for 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 ...

in the 3rd senatorial district. He ran as an ally of the gubernatorial ticket of

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 wa ...

and Rita Aldan Sablan. Hofschneider received 3,813 votes and finished fourth of five candidates for two seats.

Runs for Governor

Hofschneider was a gubernatorial candidate in the 2001, 2005, 2009, and 2014 elections. In the 2005 gubernatorial election, Hofschneider ran on a ticket with David M. Apatang. While both Hofschneider and Apatang were Republicans, they ran as independents. The 2005 election was particularly bitter as families faced divided loyalties and a record amount of money was raised and spent on attack ads. In a four-way race, the HofschneiderApatang ticket lost to

and

Timothy Villagomez Timothy Pangelinan Villagomez (born September 10, 1962, Saipan) is a Northern Marianan politician who served as the seventh lieutenant governor of the Northern Mariana Islands from January 9, 2006 until his resignation on April 24, 2009, under Gov ...

of the Covenant Party by a single point. His best gubernatorial election result came in 2009, when he was the

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 ...

nominee for

in the 2009 gubernatorial election.

Representative Representative may refer to: Politics * Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a group of people * House of Representatives, legislative body in various countries or sub-national entities * Legislator, som ...

Arnold I. Palacios of Saipan, the Speaker of the House then, was Hofschneider's

running mate A running mate is a person running together with another person on a joint 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 running with a pr ...

for lieutenant governor. Hofschneider won the initial popular vote but failed to gain a majority, triggering a runoff against the incumbent,

. Fitial won the runoff by 370 votes and therefore was re-elected. Hofschneider ran a fourth time for governor in 2014 as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

. His running mate was independent Senator Ray Yumul of Saipan. Hofschnedier lost to the incumbent,

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 ...

. Hofschneider's wife is Susan Sablan Hofschneider and they have two children. Hofschneider represented Election District 3 in the House, which encompasses portions of Saipan and the Northern Islands.

References

External links

Heinz Hofschneider campaign
1957 births Chamorro people Living people Members of the Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives People from Saipan Republican Party (Northern Mariana Islands) politicians Speakers of the Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives {{NorthernMarianas-politician-stub