Diego T. Benavente
FORMER Lt. Gov. Diego T. Benavente has stepped down as NMI Republican Party president.
In a letter to local GOP officers dated Nov. 18, 2024, Benavente said he was vacating the president’s position effective Nov. 20, 2024.
He said as an active NMI Republican Party member for more than 38 years, “I feel that it is time for me to step aside and allow the next generation of leaders to carry on with the GOP mandates.”
“Please know that I will always continue to help and support our party,” he added.
A former three-term House speaker, Benavente served the Commonwealth for 16 years in the CNMI House of Representatives and four years as lt. governor.
In a separate statement to Variety, Benavente said, “During a recent meeting with the GOP officers earlier, I announced that I would be stepping down as president …. I realized that I am getting older, to the point where it’s been hard to cope with the stress and pressure that as party president I had to deal with.”
Benavente added, “I truly believe that it is time for our next generation of leaders to carry us forward and lead us into the future.”
He was elected party president in August 2023.
The party’s first vice president, Candace Celis, is now the acting GOP president, Variety learned.
