THE election results on Rota show that most voters are ready for change, said one of the island’s two winning senatorial candidates, Rep. Donald Manglona.
Rota independent senatorial candidate, Rep. Donald Manglona, poses for a photo on Nov. 8, Election Day, on Rota.
An Independent, Manglona topped the Rota senatorial race with 905 votes. His Republican rival, former fire chief Dennis Mendiola, came in second with 748 votes, while Republican Rota Mayor Efraim Atalig finished fourth with 364 votes.
The other Independent senatorial candidate, former Rep. Crispin Ogo, came in third with 415 votes.
In a statement, Manglona said: “If there’s one thing I’ve learned from this election, it is that people are ready for change — the outcome of this year’s election made that very apparent. To the continuing and newly elected officials, I am certain that regardless of the party we represent, we share a common interest and that is to fight for, represent and serve our good people of the CNMI. For that, I want to congratulate and express my appreciation to all who offered themselves to our people.
“To the elected officials, congratulations on your hard earned victory for your efforts in reaching out to our people and for committing yourselves to our island. The work continues as we move forward in giving our people our best. I look forward to working with you all to come up with selfless and unified objectives that we can carry out for our people.
“To the people who have stood behind me, believed in me, and trusted my ability to continue representing our people, words cannot express how sincerely grateful I am for your vote of confidence. It is because of you that I am given this opportunity to continue fighting for and protecting your best interests.
“I understand that I may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but just know that despite all that, the decisions I’ve made in the past and the decisions I will be making in the future, have always been and will always be for the good of our people. I stay ready to serve you and will use my voice to echo any concerns and ideas you may have.
“To my family, friends, supporters and committee members, your efforts and contributions made it all possible. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I am who I am because of you and I will continue being the representative of our people you believe me to be.
“Now that results are certified, I just want to say that I am deeply humbled and forever grateful for the continued trust in me to be your voice. I promise to work with our elected leaders to provide the very best for our people and I look forward to hearing more from you on the issues you would like to see addressed and the ideas we can support.”
Aside from Manglona and Mendiola, the other successful senatorial candidates are Democratic Rep. Celina Babauta and Independent Rep. Corina Magofna on Saipan; and Senate President Jude U. Hofschneider and fellow Republican Sen. Frank Q. Cruz on Tinian.
Manglona, Babauta and Magofna are expected to form the new Senate majority bloc with Democrat Sen. Edith Deleon Guerrero of Saipan and Independent Sen. Paul A. Manglona of Rota.
The other member of the incoming Senate is Republican Karl King-Nabors of Tinian.
