From left, Edwin Propst, Kimberlyn King-Hinds and John Oliver Bolis Gonzales.
HOUSE Floor Leader Edwin Propst of Precinct 1, Saipan freelance business consultant and grants writer John Oliver Bolis Gonzales and former Commonwealth Ports Authority Board Chair Kimberlyn King-Hinds of Tinian may run for U.S. congressional delegate next year, Variety learned.
“I’m considering it, but only if Congressman Gregorio ‘Kilili’ Camacho Sablan decides not to run,” Propst said, referring to the incumbent delegate.
“I will never run against Kilili for that position. He’s got seniority and real connections,” Propst told Variety on Sunday.
Propst is a consistent top vote-getter in Precinct 1 since he first ran for the House of Representatives in 2016. He was re-elected in 2018, 2020 and 2022.
As for Gonzales, he neither confirmed nor denied that he will be a delegate candidate, but Variety learned that his supporters are encouraging him to run next year.
Gonzales finished third in the CNMI’s first delegate election in 2008, a nine-person race won by Kilili.
For her part, King-Hinds said: “I’m talking to my family to get their blessing, and if I do, I hope to get the community’s blessing, too.”
A former House member and election commission executive director, Kilili was elected as the CNMI’s first delegate to the U.S. Congress in 2008. Re-elected in 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2022, he ran unopposed in 2016, 2020 and 2022.
