“We should adopt a primary procedure or process because that’s the only way we can take out the weak candidate and select the best representative for the post,” former Sen. Juan T. Guerrero said in an interview on Saturday.
“The party,” he added, “has not been that strong in the last many elections — I think a lot of people are frustrated and we need to do something to lift the image of the party.”
Local Democrats must reorganize and build new foundations, Guerrero said.
He is still interested in running for the top post next year, but the party “should now concentrate on our candidate for the U.S. Congress delegate before focusing on the gubernatorial race.”
Sen. Luis P. Crisostimo of Saipan has already announced his candidacy while former Sen. David M. Cing of Tinian earlier said he might run.
“If there are two candidates then we should hold a primary,” Guerrero said.
Party Chairman Manny Sablan has said that they will hold a closed primary if there are other Democrats interested in the congressional delegate position.
A former president of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, Guerrero was a senator from 1986 to 1990, and chaired the campaign committee of the last Democrat to win a gubernatorial election — Froilan C. Tenorio, who was elected in 1993.
