Several high-profile GOP House members were either running for higher office or not seeking another term: Rep. Heinz S. Hofschneider is the party’s gubernatorial candidate whose running mate is Speaker Arnold I. Palacios.
Rep. Ralph DLG. Torres ran for senator, Reps. Edward T. Salas and Joseph C. Reyes did not seek another term, while Rep. Stanley T. Torres didn’t run on the GOP ticket.
Precinct 5’s Rosemond B. Santos was the lone incumbent GOP “casualty.”
In the 17th House of Representatives, the GOP will have nine members, the Covenant seven (from the current four) and independents four.
Other lawmakers who sought higher office or re-election but lost were Tina Sablan, Ind.-Saipan; Justo S. Quitugua, D-Saipan; Edwin P. Aldan, Covenant-Tinian; Sen. Paterno Hocog, Ind.-Rota and; Sen. Joseph M. Mendiola, Covenant-Tinian.
Sablan and Quitugua ran for the Senate.
The GOP’s Senate President Pete P. Reyes was re-elected on Saipan, where the senatorial race was topped by Rep. Ralph DLG. Torres.
Senate Floor Leader Jude U. Hofschneider and fellow Republican Francisco Q. Cruz won on Tinian with 637 and 698 votes.
Torres, the chairman of the House Committee on Health, Education and Welfare, garnered 4,661 votes while Reyes came in second with 2,947 votes.
Nine candidates vied for the two senatorial slots of Saipan.
Sablan finished fifth with 2,331 votes.
Covenant senatorial candidates Deputy Labor Secretary Cinta Kaipat and former Rep. Anna S.
Teregeyo, took the third and sixth spots with 2,784 and 1,667 votes.
Businessman Paul William Camacho got 937 votes and Taotao Tano leader Greg Cruz finished last with 815 votes. Both ran as independents.
On Rota, where all the mayoral and legislative candidates ran as independents, Jovita M. Taimanao and Juan M. Ayuyu won the two senatorial seats with 578 and 544 votes.
In Saipan’s Precinct 1, the GOP won five of the six House seats.
Former Lt. Gov. Diego T. Benavente topped the race with 2,028 votes.
Former Gov. Froilan C. Tenorio of the Covenant Party came in second with 1,671 votes.
The other winning candidates were Vice Speaker Joseph P. Deleon Guerrero, 1,634; former Immigration Director Antonio Sablan, 1,498; Joseph M. Palacios, 1,494; and Eli Cabrera, 1,485.
The Covenant Party managed to retain its two House seats in Precinct 2 with the election of Rep. Raymond C. Palacios, who got 494 votes, and Rafael S. Demapan, 381 votes.
In Precinct 3 where six seats are available, Republican Rep. Ramon Tebuteb got the highest number of votes, 1,221.
The five other winners were: Rep. Ray N. Yumul, R, 1,221; Rep. Francisco Dela Cruz, R, 1,151; former Rep. Felicidad T. Ogumoro, Covenant, 1,140; Edmund S. Villagomez, Covenant, 1,079; and Rep. Stanley T. Torres, Independent, 1,078.
In Precinct 4, Sylvestre Iguel of the Covenant Party topped the race with 618 votes followed by the brother of House Majority Floor Leader Joseph N. Camacho, George N. Camacho, who got 554.
Frederick Peters Deleon Guerrero who lost to Rep. Edward T. Salas by three votes in 2007 this time topped the Precinct 5 race with 668 votes.
The Covenant Party’s Ramon S. Basa won Kagman’s other House seat with 664 votes.
On Tinian, Rep. Edwin P. Aldan of the Covenant Party lost to Trenton Conner of the GOP.
On Rota, voters elected Teresita A. Santos to represent them in the House with 695 votes.
