2005 Northern Mariana Islands general election

General elections were held in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) on Saturday, 5 November 2005, electing the Governor and Legislature. There was also a referendum on calling a Constitutional Convention, which was approved by voters.[1] 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.

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.[1] A referendum had been due in 2003 as the last referendum had been in 1993, but the Legislature had failed to organise it.[1]

15,118 people registered with the Election Commission to vote.[2]

Campaign

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

• Benigno Fitial of the Covenant Party, sitting Speaker of the Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives and 2001 gubernatorial candidate.[3]
  • Timothy P. Villagomez, sitting Northern Mariana Islands Representative and Vice Speaker of the House at the time of the election.[3]
• Froilan C. Tenorio of the Democratic Party, former Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands from 1994 until 1998.[3]
  • Antonio Santos, educator and teacher.[3]
• Heinz Hofschneider, an independent, a sitting member of the Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives and former Speaker until 2003.[3] Hofschneider is a Republican, but ran as an independent in this election.[3]
  • David Apatang, sitting Northern Mariana Islands Representative.[3]
• Juan N. Babauta of the Republican Party, incumbent Governor elected in 2001.[3]
  • Diego T. Benavente, incumbent Lieutenant Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands elected in 2001.[3]

Results

Governor

Candidate	Party	Votes	%
Benigno Fitial	Covenant Party	3,766	27.95
Heinz Hofschneider	Independent	3,682	27.33
Juan Babauta	Republican Party	3,584	26.60
Froilan Tenorio	Democratic Party	2,440	18.11
Total		13,472	100
Source: Commonwealth Election Commission

Legislature

 Summary of the 5 November 2005 Northern Marianas Commonwealth Legislature election results

Parties	Seats
	House	Senate
Covenant Party	7	3
Republican Party	7	3
Democratic Party	2	2
Independent	2	1
Total	18	9

Referendum

Choice	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

References

1. Northern Mariana Islands, 5 November 2005: Election of a Constitutional Convention Direct Democracy (in German)
2. Casas, Gemma Q. (2009-10-13). "Registered voters up by 15%". Marianas Variety. Retrieved 2009-10-12.
3. Hernandez, Criselda B. (2005). "Politics: 4-Way Gubernatorial Election Heats Up". Islands Business. Archived from the original on 2009-10-11. Retrieved 2009-10-11.

External links

• Election results Saipan Tribune