General elections were held in the

Commonwealth of 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 commonwea ...

(CNMI) on Saturday, 5 November 2005, electing the

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

and

Legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...

. There was also a referendum on calling a Constitutional Convention, which was approved by voters.Northern Mariana Islands, 5 November 2005: Election of a Constitutional Convention
Direct Democracy The gubernatorial election was the closest in the commonwealth's history, and resulted in the election of

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 ...

, narrowly defeating independent

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 ...

by 84 votes and incumbent Republican Governor Juan N. Babauta by an additional 98 votes.

Background

The referendum on the Constitutional Convention was called in order to comply with Chapter XVIII, article 2 of the constitution, which required a referendum to be held at least every ten years on convening such a convention. A referendum had been due in 2003 as the last referendum had been in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

, but the Legislature had failed to organise it. 15,118 people registered with the Election Commission to vote.

Campaign

Four candidates ran for governor, each with a running mate: *

of the Covenant Party, sitting

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 ...

and 2001 gubernatorial candidate. ** Timothy P. Villagomez, sitting Northern Mariana Islands Representative and Vice Speaker of the House at the time of the election. * Froilan C. Tenorio of the Democratic Party, former Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands from 1994 until 1998. **Antonio Santos, educator and teacher. *

, an independent, a sitting member of the Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives and former Speaker until 2003. Hofschneider is a Republican, but ran as an independent in this election. **

David Apatang David Mundo Apatang (born July 10, 1948) is a Northern Mariana Islander politician who is serving as the 13th lieutenant governor of the Northern Mariana Islands since 2023. He previously served as the mayor of Saipan from January 12, 2015 to Jan ...

, sitting Northern Mariana Islands Representative. * Juan N. Babauta of the Republican Party, incumbent Governor elected in 2001. ** Diego T. Benavente, incumbent

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 ...

elected in 2001.

Results

Governor

Legislature

Referendum

References

External links

Election results
Saipan Tribune {{United States elections, 2005

Northern Mariana 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 commonwe ...

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

Referendums in the Northern Mariana Islands