“We look forward to continuing to work with you and our colleagues in the coming months,” the minority bloc members said in a joint letter to Speaker BJ Attao.
The letter was signed by Sablan, Reps. Sheila Babauta, Edmund Villagomez, Richard Lizama and Donald Manglona.
The previous House minority leader, Edwin Propst, resigned in October 2020, but his name remained on the ballot and he topped the Precinct 1 House race. It is still not known if he will again serve as a lawmaker.
Based on the unofficial Election Day results, nine Republicans, eight Democrats and three Independents won House seats. Two of the Independents caucus with the Democrats while one is aligned with the Republicans. This means that the two political blocs have 10 members each.
However, the House election results in Precinct 3 and Tinian may still change when the Commonwealth Election Commission tabulates absentee ballots on Nov. 17.
In Precinct 3, Republican Rep. Ralph N. Yumul leads Democrat Corina Magofna by 35 votes only. There may be 60 absentee ballots for Precinct 3 that will arrive by Nov. 17.
In the Tinian House race, Republican candidate Patrick H. San Nicolas leads his Democratic opponent Frederick Dela Cruz by 46 votes only, and there are 125 absentee ballots for Tinian that may arrive by Nov. 17.
Based on previous elections, not all absentee ballots are expected to be mailed back to the CEC, and some of those that will arrive here may be invalid ballots.
