“He won in a landslide and his opponents next year will have their hands full,” the former speaker said.
Gov. Benigno R. Fitial on Wednesday told reporters that Palacios should be the “best candidate” of the local Republican Party which the chief executive rejoined a few months ago.
In an interview yesterday, Palacios said Fitial’s statement caught him by surprise.
“I am flattered and flabbergasted,” he added. “Politics is the farthest thing from my mind right now.”
Palacios was Republcian Rep. Heinz S. Hofschneider’s running mate in the 2009 elections. They narrowly lost to Fitial and Lt. Gov. Eloy S. Inos.
Fitial told reporters that his return to the GOP will make his old party strong again.
He believes that the two factions of the party have now started to reconcile.
“I am bringing them back together. And that will make us stronger,” Fitial said, referring to the camps of Hofschneider and former Gov. Juan N. Babauta.
Babauta lost to Hofschneider in the 2009 GOP primary.
Variety also learned that some Republicans consider former Washington Rep. Pete A. Tenorio as another potential candidate in next year’s delegate election.
Tenorio, a former lt. governor, lost to Sablan in the first CNMI delegate election in 2008, which was a nine-man race.
Last year, the governor backed former Rep. Joseph N. Camacho who lost to Sablan by 19 percentage points.
Sablan also defeated the GOP’s Babauta, who finished third, and Democrat Jesus C. Borja, a former lt. governor and Supreme Court justice.
