GUBERNATORIAL candidates Lt. Gov. Arnold I. Palacios and Rep. Tina Sablan cast their ballots on Citizenship Day, Friday, at the multi-purpose center in Susupe.
Lt. Gov. Arnold I. Palacios, third left, front row, with his family members and other supporters pose for a photo before heading to the multi-purpose center in Susupe on Friday.
Palacios, who is running as an independent candidate with Saipan Mayor David M. Apatang, was accompanied by his family members and supporters at 10 a.m., while NMI Democratic Party candidate Sablan and her running mate, Rep. Leila Fleming Staffler, were accompanied by the Commonwealth’s first governor, Carlos S. Camacho, and other supporters at 10:30 a.m.
Palacios said Citizenship Day was important to him and his family because it reminded them of his late father, Dr. Francisco T. Palacios, one of the Commonwealth’s founding fathers who signed the Covenant that made the NMI part of the U.S.
NMI Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rep. Tina Sablan, fourth left, and running mate, Rep. Leila Staffler, third right, flash the no. 1 sign while posing for a photo with the CNMI’s first governor, Dr. Carlos S. Camacho, center, former first lady Winnie Camacho and other supporters before heading to the multi-purpose center in Susupe to cast their early votes on Citizenship Day, Friday, Nov. 4, 2022
Sablan likewise noted the significance of exercising her right to vote on Citizenship Day. She said it was also the anniversary of her nomination as her party’s standard-bearer in this year’s election.
Staffler said she was proud to cast her ballot on a historic day with her
“very capable running mate.” She said she and Sablan will do their best to serve the people of the Commonwealth as they have over the course of their careers. “We are ready to serve no matter what happens next,” she said.
Their Republican opponent is Gov. Ralph DLG Torres whose running mate is Senate Floor Leader Vinnie F. Sablan.
Runoff
Palacios and Rep. Sablan both said they are prepared for a runoff election in case no one among the gubernatorial candidates secures a majority of the votes cast.
Palacios said, as much as “we want to get this done in one shot,” his campaign team is getting ready for a runoff. “We are shooting for Number 1,” Palacios said but he also acknowledged that “at the end of the day, if there is a runoff it is the first two that will go through.”
Lt. Gov. Arnold I. Palacios and Second Lady Wella Palacios fill out an early-voting form at the multi-purpose center in Susupe on Friday.
Rep. Sablan said, “We are ready for the runoff if there is one.”
She added, “I am hoping that there will be a landslide, and we’ve been working really hard, and I have to say that I am so proud of the campaign that we ran, I am proud of the Democratic slate of candidates that are on the ballot this year.”
She also thanked their team of incredible volunteers who helped get their message out and encouraged people to make their voices heard in this election and to vote for change.
Questionable behavior
Palacios said “so many resources and opportunities” have been given to the CNMI, but “it is really the behavior of some of our elected leaders that has come into question.”
He said the Commonwealth needs public leaders who will adhere to the rule of law and the Constitution. He said there shouldn’t be any room for bending the rules.
“There is a certain inherent trust that is given to you when you get elected,” Palacios said. But somewhere along the line, he added, the Commonwealth has experienced a “crisis of confidence.”
Palacios said he and Apatang grew up under past leaders who desired to serve honorably, “and that is the thing that we are trying to do here — to follow the norm that we grew up with.”
He added, “If you have done some of the stuff that some of our leaders have done today, in the past, they would have no qualms, the people would get rid of you.”
Today, he said, “it has been a challenge and we all know it.”
Palacios said he and Apatang know that people “expect a certain level of quality, a certain level of integrity in the public officials they elected. The seat of any elected official is a public seat, and a position that people hold dear.”
Inappropriate
Rep. Sablan said she thinks Gov. Torres’ years of spending public funds or “what really appears to be very obvious campaigning, is extremely inappropriate.”
She said the funds the governor has been giving out are not “donations” if they’re not from his personal bank account.
Those are taxpayers’ funds, she said, adding that the governor’s “donations appear, smell and sound like vote buying.”
