But this time he is not on the ticket, and the election in November is not a matter of life and death for administration officials and their families. Their jobs or contracts have been renewed already, and with the coming austerity measures and other unpopular revenue-raising legislation that this administration and Legislature will inflict on the community, this year’s poll may turn into a referendum on the Fitial administration…. The election is still eight months away; a lot can still happen and other candidates will also file their petitions, but it is safe to say that given a choice between an incumbent who is doing a good job and his opponent who promises to work closely with a failed administration…”
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No one should underestimate the governor’s political prowess. But it seems that he and his cronies thought that the stunt they pulled last year proved they were invincible and could, once again, cow the electorate despite the mess that this administration continued to create and the hardship it was imposing on the people.
Kilili, in any case, won because he knew how to win and he deserved to win. He may be the only CNMI elected official worth his pay. He delivers. He works hard for the commonwealth. He is trying to make the lives of the people better. He is extremely competent at his job. He is also a good politician, perhaps as politically skillful as the governor, but without the meanness and the malignancy associated with the ruling party. Kilili ran on his outstanding record as the CNMI’s first congressional delegate. It also helped that he was virtually running against the governor.
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There was real fear on Tuesday evening that the CNMI would completely go over to the, well, dark side by electing yet another Fitial fawner. The governor would then have at his disposal the immense resources of his office and the congressional delegate’s. Now that’s scary.
And so, on early Wednesday morning, at the multi-purpose center, when the election board announced that the next ballots to be counted were those cast by early voters (over 1,700) there was panic among the Kilili supporters. One told me that Joecam could pull ahead by 700 votes. Another hoped that not all of early voters hauled by the ruling party voted for Joecam.
When the results were announced, Joecam did get a lot of the early votes — his share was almost 54 percent! At this point, I was already getting text messages from angry voters suspecting “foul play.” The fix is in! one of them assured me. But I pointed out that the early votes were Joecam’s best shot. And yet Kilili still placed second with a 24 percent share. And he was down by only 10 votes with still plenty of ballots to count. If his performance in Susupe/CK (Covenant bailiwick and Jesse Borja’s hometown) and San Antonio (a Republican stronghold) was any indication, he would win easily, I assured my friends, who marveled at my new found “optimism.” But I wasn’t merely “thinking positive.” I had been saying all along to anyone who asked me that it was going to be a race between Kilili and Joecam and Kilili would win. How could he lose? He was running against Governor Payless Paydays.
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“Care to handicap the race?” a friend asked me on Election Day. “Kilili, Joecam, Babauta, Borja, in that order,” I replied. Not that I had anything against the former lt. governor — a decent, exceptional public servant — but his campaign was obviously underfunded, his party was the shadow of the shadow of its former self, and he was in the wrong race. He should seriously consider another run for the top post. But I don’t believe he’ll be eager to return to politics after this election. And that is a pity for the CNMI.
Regarding former Governor Babauta — he has lost his magic touch as a politician since, strangely enough, winning the gubernatorial race by a landslide nine years ago. His party was riddled with defections and for some hardcore HA supporters, it was payback time for John’s too public display of affection for Uncle Ben.
The “beneficiary” of Babauta’s third election setback is his former lt. gov., Diego Benavente, who now stands alone as a potential GOP gubernatorial candidate for the 2014 race. I still believe that Heinz has more and better policy ideas, but his failure to oust (thanks to the runoff rule) a supposedly unpopular incumbent last year has dampened the mood of some of his key backers.
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Let me end by congratulating and thanking the election commission, its officials and staff, AAG Meaghan Hassel-Shearer, OPA, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and DPS for ensuring a generally smooth election process. I’ve covered so many CNMI elections already, but I must admit that watching this election board quietly and efficiently count ballot after ballot as night turned into day amazed me. Their board’s legal counsel is just as hard-working and professional.
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