FORMER Tinian Sen. David M. Cing is endorsing the Democratic gubernatorial ticket of Rep. Tina Sablan and Rep. Leila Fleming Staffler.
A current member of the national Democratic Party, Cing served as a CNMI Democratic senator from 1992 to 2004.
In an interview on Thursday, Cing said he was pleasantly surprised to learn that Sablan chose Staffler, who hails from Tinian, to be her running mate.
“This makes the 2022 election campaign more interesting,” he said. “The people of the Commonwealth are already tired of both the governor and the lt. governor, and a lot of people on Tinian, myself included, are happy that Tina and Leila are running together.”
Republican Gov. Ralph DLG Torres is seeking re-election with Senate Floor Leader Vinnie F. Sablan as his running mate while Lt. Gov. Arnold I. Palacios is running as an independent candidate for governor with Saipan Mayor David M. Apatang, another former Republican, as running mate.
Not good
Cing noted that the governor sent Finance Secretary David DLG Atalig to represent the CNMI in important meetings in the nation’s capital.
“That shouldn’t have been the case,” the former senator said, adding that if the governor couldn’t travel to the U.S. for whatever reason, “he should have sent the lt. governor on his behalf.”
Torres “is making it obvious to the U.S. Congress and other federal officials that he and the lt. governor are no longer together.”
Cing added, “I support Tina and Leila because the governor and the lt. governor can no longer sit at the same table. You know, it’s okay to argue or fight over issues as long as you come up with a good result.”
But “whatever all this infighting is about here in the Commonwealth, it shouldn’t be made obvious in the nation’s capital because it’s not supposed to be like that. It’s like when you and your spouse are quarreling, do you show that to your respective parents and other people? Of course not. You keep your fighting between yourselves.”
David M. Cing
Former Sen. David M. Cing is a card-carrying member of the national Democratic Party.
