But Fitial, who is turning 64 on Nov. 27, and the 52-year-old Hofschneider cancelled their separate rallies on Friday here on Saipan following a shooting rampage that killed five and wounded nine–eight Korean tourists and the four-year-old girl who survived the attack.
Speaker Arnold I. Palacios, Hofschneider’s running mate, said their campaign “went very well.”
“We’re very optimistic,” the 54-year-old Palacios told the Variety in a phone interview.
A total of 16,146 voters registered to vote for the Nov. 7 general elections and 86 percent of them cast their ballots.
Hofschneider and Palacios got a total of 4,900 votes while Fitial and his running mate Lt. Gov. Eloy Inos received 4,892 in the four-way gubernatorial election.
Because none of the candidates got the 50 percent plus one of the votes cast as required by the law, a runoff was scheduled for today.
Palacios said voters should keep in mind what hardships they went through over the last four years under the Fitial administration.
“There’s been so much pain and suffering and a lot of problems that we faced over the past four years. And you know, they didn’t just appear on the horizon out of nowhere, they came from bad policies,” he said.
“What we’re offering is a new vision for change and hard work to support the fundamentals that will push the commonwealth up from the ground,” he added.
In a separate interview, Fitial said he’s been called names and blamed for everything bad that has happened in the commonwealth but he remains optimistic and committed to serve the public.
Fitial beat Hofschneider by 84 votes in the 2005 elections.
“I’ve been told that I didn’t stand a chance at all in this election. Some said I would finish last. They blamed me for the rolling blackouts. They blamed me for everything,” said the governor.
He said his running mate is one of the reasons he’s in the runoff.
“He has a lot of votes that I cannot muster. Eloy Inos has his own political niche,” he added.
Polling places will open today at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. An alcohol ban will be imposed throughout the period.
The Commonwealth Election Commission will count the ballots by hand at the multi-purpose center.
Absentee votes received today will be counted while the rest will be tabulated on Dec. 7.
