REPUBLICAN Gov. Ralph DLG Torres and running mate Senate Floor Leader Vinnie F. Sablan joined other GOP candidates in submitting their petitions and candidacy documents to the Commonwealth Election Commission office on Friday.
While family members and other supporters look on, Gov. Ralph DLG Torres and running mate Senate Floor Leader Vinnie F. Sablan file their candidacies at the Commonwealth Election Office Friday.
“We will continue to work hard for the people of the Commonwealth,” the governor said as he and Sablan expressed their deep gratitude to their families, friends, and supporters.
“I am seeking a second term, and I am asking the people’s vote of confidence and their blessings,” Torres said. “I am asking them to see what I have done for the community, during the pandemic…providing opportunities, protecting the retirees — and look at the facts, look how much effort, time and energy I put in for the people of the Commonwealth.”
Torres said the GOP is “truly the people’s party, and we truly care for the people of the entire CNMI.”
“We are grateful for this outpouring of support,” he added, “and we are inspired to continue working hard for you, the great people of the Commonwealth. Despite the attacks and misinformation, we remain committed to doing the real work that rebuilds our economy, raises revenue to pay for our retirees and government obligations, strengthen our healthcare system, increase opportunities for our children, and keep our villages safe. We humbly ask for your vote of confidence to continue serving everyone who calls our beautiful islands home.”
The ninth governor of the Commonwealth, Torres was elected to the House of Representatives in 2007 and to the Senate in 2009. In 2013, he became Senate president. A year later, he was the running mate of the late Gov. Eloy S. Inos, and they won the 2014 gubernatorial election.
Torres became governor after Inos passed away on Dec. 28, 2015.
In the 2018 election, Torres, with then-Senate President Arnold I. Palacios as running mate, won by a landslide.
With Saipan Mayor David M. Apatang as his running mate, Palacios is now running for governor as an independent. The Democrats, for their part, have nominated Reps. Tina Sablan and Leila Staffler for governor and lt. governor.
Torres’s running mate, Senate Floor Leader Vinnie F. Sablan said they will continue to work hard and show “compassion for the community and our people.”
“We are going to continue to do good work,” he added. “We are going to continue bringing prosperity to our people, protecting the identity of our people…and to pave the way for future leaders just like our forefathers,” Sablan said.
“I am excited — we still have a long way to go, we are three months away from the election, I have faith, trust and confidence in the voters… As an elected official, I am honored by the voters’ faith, confidence and trust in me,” Sablan added.
The GOP candidate for Saipan mayor, Rep. Joseph Leepan Tenorio Guerrero, speaks to reporters at the Commonwealth Election Commission where he and other Republicans filed their candidacies on Friday.
For mayor
Republican Precinct 1 Rep. Joseph Leepan T. Guerrero, who is running for Saipan mayor, said he wants to serve and help more people.
If elected, Guerrero said he would focus on the villages, “get back to the villages, help out the villages —that’s the first thing that I would do if elected mayor of Saipan.”
For Rota senator
Another Republican who filed his candidacy on Friday was CNMI Homeland Security Special Assistant Dennis Mendiola who is seeking one of Rota’s two Senate seats.
“It’s always about our people,” he said. “Any position we endeavor to work on is really because when we see a need we go for it,” Mendiola added.
“Our people have always been the forefront for the CNMI Republican Party. We aspire to always bring something new to our community, to our people,” he said.
With K-Andrea Evarose S. Limol
