The Guam Congress Building in Hagåtña on Oct. 24, 2024.
HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — The unofficial results for the 2024 general election are in, and it appears that Republicans will have the majority in the next Guam Legislature. Fifteen lawmakers constitute the Legislature, and nine Republican senatorial candidates managed to earn spots among the top 15 vote-getters this election. In addition, Republican Guam Delegate James Moylan managed to retain his seat against his Democratic opponent Ginger Cruz.
Four incumbent lawmakers lost their seats, based on the unofficial results. Sen. Roy Quinata, a Democrat, missed 15th place to Republican candidate Eulogio Shawn Gumataotao by 256 votes.
Sens. Dwayne San Nicolas, a Democrat; Joanne Brown, a Republican; and Thomas Fisher, a Republican, placed 17th, 18th and 20th respectively, according to the unofficial results.
San Nicolas issued a statement Wednesday morning thanking voters for placing their trust in him through his term.
“Although the outcome of the 2024 general election wasn’t what we had hoped for, I am proud of the work my office and I have accomplished together for our island, and I am grateful for the connections we made along the way,” San Nicolas stated.
“In these past two years, I’ve learned so many things and forged friendships and partnerships that will last a lifetime. I remain committed to serving the people of Guam with integrity, transparency, compassion and kindness in all that I do,” the senator added.
The Guam Election Commission is still pending counts for off-island absentee ballots, provisional ballots and ballots from some homebound voters. Voter turnout, according to unofficial results, was at 48.3%.
Senatorial rankings according to unofficial results
1) D – Therese Terlaje
2) D – Darrel Christopher Barnett
3) R – Vicente Anthony Ada
4) D – Joe San Agustin
5) R – Sabrina Matanane
6) D – Tina Muna Barnes
7) R – Jesse Lujan
8) R – Frank Blas Jr.
9) R – Shelly Calvo
10) D – William Parkinson
11) R – Chris Duenas
12) R – Vincent Borja
13) D – Sabina Perez
14) R – Telo Taitague
15) R – Eulogio Shawn Gumataotao
A Republican majority
Sen. Frank Blas Jr., the minority leader at the current Legislature, said the last time Republicans held the majority was in the 29th Guam Legislature, nearly two decades ago, and only for one year of that term. The death of then-Speaker Tony Unpingco resulted in a special election that saw Democrats take majority control the following year.
“And since then, it’s been (a) Democrat majority,” Blas said.
With the tables turned years later, Blas said he believed the 2024 unofficial election results, both in the legislative and delegate races, represented a referendum “on the leadership and where this island was taken by the current Democratic leadership.”
“People just want a change. They’re dissatisfied, and they know we can do better.… In this case, a Republican majority to put it back on track,” Blas said.
A Republican majority Legislature would pay closer attention to where government finances are coming from, according to Blas.
“Granted, we’re seeing some excess revenues as a result of the military buildup. In the meantime, we’ve shunned and we’ve not taken care of one of our traditional foundations of our economy and that’s tourism. When the military buildup ends, what’s on the side of this apex? And are we going to be able to sustain ourselves because, granted there’s going to be jobs offered as a result of renewed activity, but are we ready to sustain ourselves at the pace we’re doing right now? We just finished coming out with the largest budget in our history with, I believe, no foresight of what we need to expect or should expect down the road,” Blas said.
One aspect to look at is the business privilege tax, he added. The BPT was raised to 5% from 4% in 2018 to replace revenue lost from Trump-era tax cuts on Guam. Business organizations have been calling for a general rollback to 4%, although lawmakers expanded a threshold for small businesses to be taxed at 3%, which was estimated to capture about 90% of small businesses on Guam.
“Is it necessary to continue to be at 5%? Remember, it was only supposed to be a temporary hike.… We’re forgetting where that money came from, … and when we start to do that, our businesses are faltering,” Blas said.
Delegate race
Moylan’s camp on election night was abound with celebration. Supporters cheered after the delegate spoke with Cruz over the phone as she conceded the race a little before 2 a.m. Wednesday, in light of the trending vote count. The unofficial results show Moylan obtained about 52.7% of the vote.
“She congratulated me, and I was appreciative of that, and now we got to move forward. I’m more than happy to take the challenge on,” Moylan said shortly after receiving the call.
Despite facing a losing race, the mood wasn’t necessarily somber as Cruz spoke to supporters back at her camp before calling Moylan to congratulate him.
“You guys can’t be sad, all right. Because, here’s the first thing we need to think about: We started from nothing.… We have created a movement.… Just because I’m not going to be elected tonight does not mean that things are going to get any easier. Things are going to get a lot tougher. So what I want to do today is I want to ask you all, if you are willing, that we will keep our movement together,” Cruz said to raucous applause.
“And guess what happens in two years? There’s another election coming,” she added.
Although Cruz said that doesn’t necessarily mean she will decide to run, she told supporters that they have a voice.
“So let us keep this group together. Let us continue to learn from each other. Let us continue to grow. Because look at all of the firsts we have. This was, and I’ve gotten so many texts on my phone I can’t even tell you, from Republicans, from Democrats, from independents who have said that this was one of the most incredible campaigns that anyone has ever seen in decades. And that is all of you,” Cruz said.
