He said the committees representing the tickets of Rep. Heinz S. Hofschneider and former Gov. Juan N. Babauta will still decide whether to hold an open or closed primary on June 27.
In a closed primary, only registered Republicans can participate.
Except for the 2005 elections, when the party did not hold a primary, the GOP, since 1977, has conducted open primaries in selecting its gubernatorial candidate.
Tenorio said there are concerns that supporters of other camps will take advantage of the open primary to beat the “stronger” GOP team.
The open primary entitles all registered voters in the CNMI to participate.
Tenorio said Hofschneider and his running mate Speaker Arnold I. Palacios and the team of Babauta and running mate Galvin Deleon Guerrero will each have a committee made of five members.
These committees are scheduled to hold talks today.
“We’re trying to see recommendations from both camps. It’s always been an open primary but we don’t know what the recommendations will be this time,” Tenorio told the Variety in an interview.
He said the committees will work to form the guidelines on how the primary will be conducted, but he refused to give details.
“I don’t want to pre-empt their decisions. We shall see,” he added.
The GOP president said their goal is to ensure victory in the gubernatorial election.
The other candidates are Gov. Benigno R. Fitial who is running with Finance Secretary Eloy Inos on the Covenant Party slate; the Independent team of former Sen. Juan T. Guerrero and House Floor Leader Joseph N. Camacho; and former Sen. Ramon S. Deleon Guerrero and former Education Commissioner David M. Borja, who are also running as Independents.
