Democratic Party of the Northern Mariana Islands

Last updated

Democratic Party of the Northern Mariana Islands
Chairman Jonathan Cabrera
Vice Chairwoman Luella Marciano
SecretaryMelia Johnson
TreasurerShawna Indalecio
Founded1978
Preceded byPopular Party
Headquarters Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands
Ideology Modern liberalism [1]
Political position Center-left [1]
National affiliation Democratic Party
Colors  Blue
Northern Mariana Islands Governor
0 / 1
Northern Mariana Islands Lieutenant Governor
0 / 1
U.S. House of Representatives
0 / 1
Northern Mariana Islands Senate
2 / 9
Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives
2 / 20
Northern Mariana Islands Mayors
0 / 4
Election symbol
Democratic Disc.svg
Website
nmidems.org

The Democratic Party of the Northern Mariana Islands is a political party in the Northern Mariana Islands. It began as a purely local territorial party and is now officially affiliated with the United States' national Democratic Party.

Contents

History

In 1977, the Popular Party changed its name to the Democratic Party. The Popular Party's opponent, the Territorial Party, would change its name to the Republican Party in 1981. [2]

The CNMI has not elected a Democratic Governor since 1993, when Froilan Tenorio was elected. At the legislative elections of November 1, 2003 the party won 1 out of 18 seats. It won an extra seat in the 2005 legislative elections. Its candidate Froilan Tenorio won 18% in the 2005 gubernatorial election. In the November 3, 2007 Commonwealth Legislature elections, the party took only 1 of 20 seats in the House of Representatives. [3] [4]

In 2009, for the first time ever, the Democratic Party did not nominate a candidate in the gubernatorial election. They fielded a candidate for Mayor of Saipan (Angelo Villagomez), along with two CNMI House candidates and one CNMI Senate candidate. [5]

In August 2016, the Commonwealth Election Commission recognized the party for the 2016 election year. Three of the 67 political candidates on the NMI are Democrats. [6]

The party organized the 2020 Northern Mariana Islands Democratic caucuses. [7]

In the 2020 elections, four incumbent representatives announced that they would run for re-election as Democrats. [8] The party is running 18 candidates, and supporting 3 independent candidates. Prior to the election, there were zero Democrats in either chamber of the Commonwealth Legislature. [9] The result of the 2020 general election was that the CNMI had experienced a blue wave as the party gained nine Democrats and the three endorsed independents were elected to office. [10] For the first time in a decade, representatives affiliated with the Democratic Party had seats in the legislature. In the special election to replace the late Republican legislator Ivan A. Blanco, Democratic candidate Corina Magofna won the special election, flipping the seat. [11]

In the 2022 gubernatorial election, the party nominated Tina Sablan for governor with Leila Staffler as her running mate. [12] She lost the 1st race, conceded, and endorsed independent candidate Arnold Palacios and his running mate David Apatang. [13] The party lost much of their gains from the previous election in the House, winning 4 seats, half of their previous win. They did gain a seat in the Senate, increasing their number to 2. [14]

Positions

The Democratic Party of the Northern Mariana Islands has defended Article 12 of the CNMI Constitution which restricts land alienation to persons of Northern Marianas descent. [15]

Electoral history

Gubernatorial elections

Election yearCandidateRunning mateFirst roundSecond roundResult
Votes%RankVotes%Rank
1977 Carlos S. Camacho Francisco Ada TBDTBDIncrease2.svg 1stWon
1981TBDTBDTBDTBDTBDLost
1986TBDTBDTBDTBDTBDLost
1989TBDTBDTBDTBDTBDLost
1993 Froilan Tenorio Jesus Borja TBDTBDIncrease2.svg 1stWon
1997 Froilan Tenorio TBATBD27.4Decrease2.svg 2ndLost
2001 Jesus BorjaBridget Ichihara2,11718.20Decrease2.svg 3rdLost
2005 Froilan Cruz "Lang" Tenorio Antonio Aguon Santos2,44018.11Decrease2.svg 4thLost
2009 Did not contest
2012 Edward GuerreroDanny Quitugua5413.92Steady2.svg 4thLost
2018 Joseph S. Inos (withdrew)Did not contest
2022 Tina Sablan Leila Haveia Fleming Clark Staffler 4,13228.01Increase2.svg 3rdLost

Delegate elections

Election yearCandidateVotes%RankResult
2008David Mendiola Cing3073.02Increase2.svg 6thLost
2010 Jesus Borja 1,70715.07Increase2.svg 4thLost
2012 Did not contest
2014 Andrew Sablan Salas4,54734.72Increase2.svg 2ndLost
2016 Did not contest
2018 Did not contest
2020 Did not contest
2022 Gregorio Sablan 12,315100.00Increase2.svg 1stWon
2024 Ed Propst 4,06733.27Decrease2.svg 2ndLost

Senate elections

ElectionSeats+/–Status
Up for electionTotal
1999
1 / 3
2 / 9
Increase2.svg 1Minority
2001
0 / 6
1 / 9
Decrease2.svg 1Minority
2003
1 / 3
2 / 9
Increase2.svg 1Minority
2005
1 / 6
2 / 9
Steady2.svg 0Minority
2007
0 / 3
1 / 9
Decrease2.svg 1Minority
2009
0 / 6
0 / 9
Decrease2.svg 1Not represented
2012 Did not contestNot represented
2014
0 / 6
0 / 9
Steady2.svg 0Not represented
2016
0 / 3
0 / 9
Steady2.svg 0Not represented
2018 Did not contestNot represented
2020
1 / 3
1 / 9
Increase2.svg 1Minority
2022
1 / 6
2 / 9
Increase2.svg 1Minority
2024
1 / 3
2 / 9
Steady2.svg 0Minority

House of Representatives elections

Election

year

Seats+/–Status
1997
5 / 18
TBDMinority
1999
6 / 18
Increase2.svg 1Minority
2001
1 / 18
Decrease2.svg 5Minority
2003
1 / 18
Steady2.svg 0Minority
2005
2 / 18
Increase2.svg 1Minority
2007
1 / 20
Decrease2.svg 1Minority
2009
0 / 20
Decrease2.svg 1Not represented
2012 Did not contestSteady2.svg 0Not represented
2014
0 / 20
Steady2.svg 0Not represented
2016
0 / 20
Steady2.svg 0Not represented
2018
0 / 20
Steady2.svg 0Not represented
2020
8 / 20
Increase2.svg 8Majority coalition
2022
4 / 20
Decrease2.svg 4Majority coalition
2024
2 / 20
Decrease2.svg 2Majority coalition

References

  1. 1 2 Arnold, N. Scott (2009). Imposing values: an essay on liberalism and regulation. Florence: Oxford University Press. p. 3. ISBN   978-0-495-50112-1. Modern liberalism occupies the left-of-center in the traditional political spectrum and is represented by the Democratic Party in the United States.
  2. Porter, Kit (1993). "Starting Northern Marianas College: A Negotiation Perspective" (PDF). Harvard Graduate School of Education.
  3. "Northern Mariana Islands Government 2015, CIA World Factbook". theodora.com. Retrieved February 26, 2015.
  4. The Far East and Australasia 2003. Taylor & Francis Group. 2002. p. 1129. ISBN   9781857431339 . Retrieved February 26, 2015.
  5. "2010 Northern Marianas Islands Congressional Race". D.C.'s Political Report. D.C. Finegold-Sachs. Archived from the original on September 22, 2015. Retrieved February 26, 2015.
  6. Villahermosa, Cherrie Anne E. (August 18, 2016). "Democrats recognized as NMI political party". Marianas Variety. Retrieved August 20, 2016.[ dead link ]
  7. "Presidential caucus announcement". www.nmidems.org. Retrieved March 13, 2020.[ permanent dead link ]
  8. Propst, Edwin (June 19, 2020). "Why I'm running as a Democrat and why the CNMI needs a two-party system". Saipan Tribune. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  9. De La Torre, Ferdie (August 7, 2020). "66 candidates, 2 judges, 1 justice for retention" . Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  10. De La Torre, Ferdie (November 6, 2020). "Hix assures successful Democratic bets will deliver". Saipan Tribune . Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  11. "Magofna Wins Northern Mariana Islands Special Election". October 18, 2021.
  12. Post, Emmanuel T. Erediano | For The Guam Daily (November 5, 2021). "CNMI Dems endorse Sablan for governor". The Guam Daily Post. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
  13. Limol, K.-Andrea Evarose (November 10, 2022). "Torres tops gubernatorial race; Sablan endorses Palacios in runoff". Marianas Variety News & Views. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
  14. "2022-general-election-results | 2022 | Election". Commonwealth Election Commission. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
  15. Dayao, Jun (May 21, 2014). "Democratic Party of NMI defends Article 12". Saipan Tribune. Archived from the original on January 15, 2017. Retrieved April 21, 2016.