Carlos S. Camacho

Carlos Sablan Camacho (born February 27, 1937) was the first Governor of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, a commonwealth of the United States.

This article is about former Northern Mariana Islands governor. For the former Guam governor, see Carlos Camacho. For the Colombian actor, see Carlos Camacho (actor).

Carlos Camacho
1st Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands
In office January 9, 1978 – January 11, 1982
Lieutenant	Francisco Ada
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Pedro Tenorio
Personal details
Born	Carlos Sablan Camacho (1937-02-27) February 27, 1937 Saipan, Mariana Islands, South Pacific Mandate
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Lourdes Camacho[1]
Education	Fiji School of Medicine (MBBS) University of Hawaii, Manoa (MPH)

Biography

Camacho was born on Saipan. He attended the Fiji School of Medicine and the University of Hawaii. He practiced medicine until 1967, when he was elected to the Congress of Micronesia. He served as the Pacific islands' chief medical officer of public health from 1969 to 1977. He was also president of the Saipan Democratic Party from 1975 to 1977. In 1976, he was appointed to the Northern Marianas Constitutional Convention.[2]

Governorship

Camacho, a Democrat, was elected the first governor of that new territory in 1977. He served a single term from 1978 to 1982, when he was succeeded by a Republican, Pedro Tenorio.

Taisacan v. Camacho

In 1980, the CNMI legislature passed a budget that would have appropriated over $1.5 million in federal money for capital improvements on the island of Rota. Camacho vetoed this portion of the budget, calling it excessive and inequitable. Leon Taisacan, a Rota resident, then sued Camacho, claiming that his veto violated the terms of the Covenant between the United States and the CNMI. A district court granted summary judgement in favor of Camacho, and then the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit dismissed the lawsuit on the grounds that Taisacan did not have standing to sue, as he was not specifically injured by the veto.[3]

References

1. Casas, Gemma Q. (March 11, 2010). "Former Lt. Governor Ada laid to rest". Marianas Variety News & Views. Retrieved March 12, 2010.
2. Lal, Brij V.; Kate Fortune (2000). "Carlos Sablan Camacho". The Pacific Islands: An Encyclopedia. University of Hawaii Press. p. 294.
3. "660 F2d 411 Taisacan v. S Camacho". OpenJurist. Retrieved April 28, 2016.

Party political offices
First	Democratic nominee for Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands 1977, 1981, 1985	Succeeded by Froilan Tenorio
Political offices
New office	Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands 1978–1982	Succeeded by Pedro Tenorio