Babauta, in a media conference at his Gualo Rai residence, announced that he is seeking the Republican Party’s gubernatorial nomination with Board of Education board member Galvin S. Deleon Guerrero as his running mate.
A former senator and Washington representative, Babauta was elected governor in 2001 but lost his re-election bid in 2005.
He said could have done better “in a lot of things.”
“But I can say unequivocally that I never served any special interest other than the people’s interest,” he said.
In an interview prior to his announcement, Babauta said the current administration seemed to have never taken responsibility for its own shortcomings.
Instead, he added, the present leaders are blaming their predecessors “whenever things go wrong these days.”
Edward Guerrero, the chairman of the Committee to Elect Babauta and Deleon Guerrero, said unpopular decisions were made during Babauta’s administration “but these proved to be the right things to do.”
Deleon Guerrero, for his part, said all the leaders who came before made mistakes, “but who else are we going to learn from except them?”
The people want change, he said, but change cannot happen without the wisdom of experience.
“I think that is the strength of this ticket,” he said. “We need to learn to balance the need for change.”
Deleon Guerrero served as Babauta’s special assistant for special projects.
Education
The Juan-Galvin team, the committee said, will make education a priority, and this is why Babauta chose an educator to be his running mate.
Babauta said after attending college and graduate school in the U.S. he came back to the islands because it was the CNMI taxpayers who helped him get his scholarship, “and I was very grateful for that.”
Babauta said the CNMI today is “caught between hope and fear.”
The people, he added, fear that things are going to get worse before they can actually begin to get better while hoping that things are going to get better before they get worse.
He said he and Deleon Guerrero are on the side of hope.
His running mate, Babauta added, is a man who inspires hope and represents the future.
Running with Deleon Guerrero, Babauta said, he can now say, “Our future is now.”
With all that is happening in the CNMI today, Babauta said he cannot “stand by the wayside to let hope and dream slip away.”
Deleon Guerrero said when Babauta asked him to run for lt governor, he had to “really think about it because that instantly led me to a crossroads in my life.”
He said he faced many options. These included completing his master’s degree, going to film school, accepting job offers in the U.S. or continuing his present career at Mt. Carmel School, where he is the principal.
“I prayed on it,” he said, adding that he also talked to people he trust for their and insights.
He said he remembered his late father, Ben Rai, who always did his best despite the challenges. He also thought about his late great grandfather, Gregorio “Kilili” Sablan, the first mayor of Saipan who also wrote the NMI anthem.
Leadership, he added, is a great calling and Babauta “is a man of character, integrity and who has nothing but the best interest of the CNMI in mind.”
Two other Republicans are running for governor — Reps. Diego T. Benavente and Heinz S. Hofschneider.
Benavente was Babauta’s running mate in the 2001 and 2005 elections.
