“The lt. governor and I have decided that it would be to our advantage not to have a candidate,” he said on Tuesday.
Incumbent Mayor Joseph S. Inos, who is with the Covenant Party, is constitutionally barred from seeking a third term.
Inos’s brother is Lt. Gov. Eloy S. Inos.
“We figure that since we get support from independent candidates [on Rota] it would be wrong for us to discourage [them],” Fitial said.
On Tinian, the ruling party’s candidate is incumbent Mayor Jose P. San Nicolas.
On Saipan, former Senate President Juan S. Demapan is the Covenant candidate.
On Sunday, July 12, Fitial said they will hold a rally to present all of the Covenant candidates.
After the rally, he said the party will launch a house-to-house campaign, which he described as a “must.”
Fitial said he is seeking another term to pursue his economic development program.
Asked about the recently held Republican primary, Fitial said the winner, Rep. Heinz S. Hofschneider is clearly “stronger” than former Gov. Juan N. Babauta.
“But I can’t say if [Hofschneider] is stronger than the other candidates — we still have to conduct a survey that would determine who is the strongest,” the governor said.
Surveys, however, are estimates and no one can project what will actually happen on Election Day, he added.
Besides Fitial and Hofschneider, the other gubernatorial candidates are former Sens. Juan T. Guerrero and Ramon S. Deleon Guerrero.
Both are independents.
