Senate to reorganize soon

Karl King-Nabors

FOLLOWING the oath-taking of Lt. Gov. David M. Apatang as the new governor and Senate President Dennis James Mendiola as the new lieutenant governor on Thursday morning, the Senate is preparing for a reorganizational session.

Senate Vice President Karl King-Nabors is expected to become the new Senate president.

In an interview on Thursday, King-Nabors said that as the current Senate vice president, he will automatically serve in an acting capacity as Senate president until the Senate holds an organizational session.

During that session, which has yet to be scheduled, he said the Senate will nominate a new Senate president, vice president, floor leader, and legislative secretary.

Currently, the Senate floor leader is Donald Manglona and the Senate legislative secretary is Frank Q. Cruz.

In a WhatsApp interview, former Rep. Crispin Ogo — who came third in the five-way senatorial race on Rota in the 2022 general election — said, “I strongly believe it shall go to [the] next highest vote during that election and not the recent election of 2024.”

Mendiola was elected in 2022.

However, according to King-Nabors, the Senate legal counsel advised that the vacant Rota seat should be filled by the next highest vote-getter in the most recent election. In the 2024 midterm election, former Sen. Paul A. Manglona placed second, losing to Ron Calvo.

Section 9, Article II of the CNMI Constitution states:

“A vacancy in the legislature shall be filled by special election if one-half or more of the term remains. If less than one-half of the term remains, the governor shall fill the vacancy by appointing the unsuccessful candidate for the office in the last election who received the largest number of votes and is willing to serve or, if no candidate is available, a person qualified for the office from the district represented.”