2005 Northern Mariana Islands general election

The 2005 Northern Mariana Islands general election was held on Saturday, 5 November 2005. Voters in the Northern Mariana Islands voted for the Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands, the non-voting delegate to the United States House of Representatives, attorney general, 6 seats in the Northern Mariana Islands Senate, all eighteen seats in the Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives, 3 mayors, seats for the municipal council, seats for the board of education, 2 justices, and a judges. There was also a referendum on calling a Constitutional Convention, which was approved by voters.

The gubernatorial election was the closest in the commonwealth's history, and resulted in the election of Benigno Fitial, narrowly defeating independent Heinz Hofschneider by 84 votes and incumbent Republican Governor Juan N. Babauta by an additional 98 votes. This would be the last year that the gubernatorial race would work in a first-past-the-post voting system as it would be reformed to work under a two-round system for the 2009 general elections. This election made commonwealth history by electing both the territory's first Carolinian governor and its first third party governor.

Background

The referendum on the Constitutional Convention was called in order to comply with Chapter XVIII, article 2 of the constitution, which required a referendum to be held at least every ten years on convening such a convention. A referendum had been due in 2003 as the last referendum had been in 1993, but the legislature had failed to organise it.

15,118 people registered with the Election Commission to vote.

Gubernatorial election

Candidates

Four candidates ran for governor, each with a running mate:

Covenant Party

• Benigno Repeki Fitial of the Covenant Party, sitting Speaker of the Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives and 2001 gubernatorial candidate.
  • Timothy Pangelinan Villagomez, sitting Northern Mariana Islands Representative and Vice Speaker of the House at the time of the election.

Democratic Party

• Froilan Cruz "Lang" Tenorio of the Democratic Party, former Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands (1994–1998).
  • Antonio Aguon Santos, educator and teacher.

Independent

• Heinz Sablan Hofschneider, an independent, a sitting member of the Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives and former Speaker until 2003. Hofschneider is a Republican, but ran as an independent in this election.
  • David Mundo Apatang, sitting Northern Mariana Islands Representative.

Republican Party

• Juan Babauta of the Republican Party, incumbent Governor elected in 2001.
  • Diego Tenorio Benavente, incumbent Lieutenant Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands elected in 2001.

Results

Template:Election box gain with party link no change

Northern Mariana Islands Gubernatorial ElectionTemplate:Election table/category

Party		Candidate	Running mate	Results
				Votes	%
style="background:Template:Party color" |	Covenant	Benigno Repeki Fitial	Timothy Pangelinan Villagomez	3,766	27.95%
style="background:Template:Party color" |	Independent	Heinz Sablan Hofschneider	David Mundo Apatang	3,682	27.33%
style="background:Template:Party color" |	Republican	Juan Nekai Babauta (incumbent)	Diego Tenorio Benavente (incumbent)	3,584	26.60%
style="background:Template:Party color" |	Democratic	Froilan Cruz "Lang" Tenorio	Antonio Aguon Santos	2,440	18.11%
Total				13,472	100%

Resident Representative to U.S. Congress

This was the last election to have Resident Representative to U.S. Congress. In 2008, the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008, signed into law by President George W. Bush, replaced the position of resident representative with a nonvoting delegate to the House of Representatives. The new position received the power to serve in congressional committees, to introduce bills, and to vote on proposed legislation in committee, but still had limited powers on the House floor, lacking the right to vote on legislation on the House floor.

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Northern Mariana Islands Commonwealth Legislature

Results summary

File:CNMI House of Representatives 2005.svg
Parties		House Election Results		Seat Change	Party Strength
		2003	2005	+/−	Strength
style = "background-color:Template:Party color" |	Republican	7	7	Steady	38.89%
style = "background-color:Template:Party color" |	Covenant	9	7	2 Decrease	38.89%
style = "background-color:Template:Party color" |	Independent	1	2	1 Increase	11.11%
style = "background-color:Template:Party color" |	Democratic	1	2	1 Increase	11.11%
Totals		18	18	Steady	100.00%

File:CNMI Senate 2005.svg
Parties		Senate Election Results		Seat Change	Party Strength
		2003	2005	+/−	Strength
style = "background-color:Template:Party color" |	Covenant	3	3	Steady	33.33%
style = "background-color:Template:Party color" |	Republican	2	3	1 Increase	33.33%
style = "background-color:Template:Party color" |	Democratic	2	2	Steady	22.22%
style = "background-color:Template:Party color" |	Independent	2	1	1 Decrease	11.11%
Totals		9	9	Steady	100.00%

Senate

The Northern Mariana Islands Senate is the upper house of the Northern Mariana Islands Commonwealth Legislature, consisting of nine senators representing three senatorial districts (Saipan & the Northern Islands, Tinian & Aguijan, and Rota), each a Multi-member district with three senators. Six seats in the Northern Mariana Islands Senate were up for the 2005 election.

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House of Representatives

The Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives is the lower house of the Northern Mariana Islands Commonwealth Legislature. The house has six districts, several of which are Multi-member districts. All 18 seats in the Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives were contested in the 2005 election. This was the last election to have 18 members.

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Mayors

Three mayoral posts were up for election across the Commonwealth. The elections resulted in the Covenant Party taking all the available positions.

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Municipal Council

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Board of education

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Justices

Both Supreme Court Justices won retention.

Justice	For retention		Against retention		Total
	Votes	%	Votes	%
Alexandro Cruz Castro✅	10,144	80.43%	2,468	19.57%	12,612
Miguel Sablan Demapan✅	8,704	68.77%	3,953	31.23%	12,657

Judges

Judge	For retention		Against retention		Total
	Votes	%	Votes	%
David Arthur Wiseman✅	8,835	71.41%	3,538	28.59%	12,373

Referendum

Constitutional Convention Question	Votes	%
For	7,394	58.92
Against	5,156	41.08
Invalid/blank votes		–
Total	12,550	100
Registered voters/turnout	15,118
Source: Direct Democracy

External links

• Election results Saipan Tribune