Del Benson is joined by his grandsons Jade, Bo and Ande in filing his candidacy for the House Representatives at the Commonwealth Election Commission in Susupe on Wednesday.
LOCAL entrepreneur Del Benson has officially launched his candidacy for a Precinct 3 House seat as an “Independent Republican.”
Independent because he is not affiliating himself with any political group in the CNMI, and Republican because he is Republican by principle and not only by name, he said in an interview on Thursday.
His grandsons Jade, Bo and Ande joined him as he filed his candidacy at the Commonwealth Election Commission in Susupe on Wednesday morning.
Benson, 65, said he will continue what he has been doing since he started his campaign a few weeks ago: waving at people while he stands next to his newly designed yard signs in various Precinct 3 villages. The precinct has six House seats.
Benson said he also plans to do a door-to-door campaign and conduct dialogues with different community organizations.
So far, he said, more and more people are honking at him, especially on Isa Drive on Capital Hill.
Benson, who has been a CNMI resident since 1991, said he knows there is “a natural distrust for politicians” because “they promise the world and when they get elected they become part of the club, passing bills. But what good are they?”
He remembered hearing a former lawmaker say, “give us revenue-generating bills.” His response, he said, was “shame on you.”
“Where are the bills to reduce the cost of government?” Benson asked him.
Lawmakers think about raising taxes “because it’s about them — politicians keeping their jobs year after year,” he said.
He believes that no law has been enacted that actually benefits the people.
But Benson said he will not campaign like Santa Claus, and if elected he would not act like Santa Claus.
He said the real work of elected officials starts with pushing for a part-time legislature, fewer legislators, and getting rid of redundancy in the government.
“Government job cuts – that’s one thing no one wants to talk about in an election year,” he said. “But I can talk about it. We don’t have [a] budget, so what do you do?”
He said the government has not really cut back its spending.
“We need to get rid of duplications,” he said adding that there are lot of overlapping positions. “We must eliminate them,” he said.
As for the economy, he said there needs to be sustainability.
Benson is a marketing and advertising entrepreneur. He was in the real estate business for a long time. He was among those who put up La Mode Isla more than 30 years ago, and he brought The Curve, a women’s fitness club, to the island. He taught at Marianas High School and later became a professional photographer.
Del Benson and his grandsons.
