By Gemma Q. Casas
Variety News Staff

REPRESENTATIVE Stanley T. Torres is seeking the Republican Party’s nomination for Saipan’s open Senate seat.
Torres, who narrowly lost the 1997 senatorial elections as an independent candidate, also sought the party’s senatorial nomination in 2003, but the GOP selected then-Gov. Juan N. Babauta’s friend, then-Rep. Andrew S. Salas as its candidate. Salas lost to incumbent Sen. Luis P. Crisostimo, D-Saipan.
In an April 2 letter, Torres asked GOP Chairman Tom B. Pangelinan to endorse his senatorial candidacy.
Torres said his family, friends and supporters have encouraged him to run for the Senate.
“In the midst of turbulent times, I have assisted my Precinct 3 constituents as well as those beyond my precinct. Thus, with the support and strong encouragement from my family, friends and supporters, I would like to seek election for the lone seat for (Saipan) as a GOP candidate,” wrote Torres to Pangelinan.
“I believe I could also serve the needs and interests of the people as a senator,” he added.
First elected to the House in 1991, Torres is known for exposing irregularities in the government.
It was Torres who disclosed the Attorney General Office’s sole-source contract for the Division of Immigration’s Chinese translator despite the contractor’s pending labor cases locally and federally.
It was also Torres who revealed the contract of the newest Washington-based lobbying firm that the administration has hired for six months to fend off legislation in the U.S. Congress that would federalize the islands’ labor and immigration system.