He filed his certificate of candidacy yesterday at the election commission office on Rota and will publicly announce his candidacy on June 18.
Mendiola said he will be running against his relatives — incumbent Rep. Victor B. Hocog, the Republican candidate, and Steve King Mesngon, an independent.
“I admire his professionalism and we have mutual respect for each other,” Mendiola said, referring to Hocog.
Mendiola said he is running as an independent candidate because “I feel I have some support from the other parties.”
“I was encouraged by my supporters to run,” he added. “I also realized the great needs of the island and the challenges ahead, so I decided to take the challenge to help our island.”
The people of Rota, he added, “are practically related to each other and we have a wide family circle.”
He said he wants to make Rota the “food basket” of the CNMI.
Mendiola may take a leave of absence from the gaming commission and will confer with the other commissioners about his plan.
