Previous Story
Yumul drops out, Pete A. in
|
Posted on Jun 11 2008
The NMI Republican Party is expected to name Resident Rep. Pete A. Tenorio as its official candidate for the U.S. Congress today.
Only two candidates—Tenorio and Rep. Ray N. Yumul—have asked the party to endorse their bid to become the Northern Marianas’ first delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives.
But Yumul said yesterday he was dropping out of the race in view of his military duty. A member of the U.S. Army Reserve, Yumul is due for a month-long training in California starting July 14. He also expects to be deployed to Kuwait later this year.
“This is a serious election. And I probably won’t be here for the most part of the campaign period. Rather than taking any chances and putting the party in a difficult situation, I have decided to suspend my bid for the delegate seat,” Yumul said.
Ed Tenorio, president of the NMI Republican Party, said Yumul’s withdrawal from the race automatically leaves Pete A. Tenorio as the GOP nominee.
The party will have a general membership meeting at 6pm today at the Garapan Central Park. Tenorio’s nomination will be formalized in the meeting.
Another previous candidate, attorney Victorino Torres, has also pulled out of the contest for the GOP endorsement.
Tenorio will face at least five other candidates in the Nov. 4 election, most of them running independent. They are Sen. Luis Crisostimo, retired judge Juan T. Lizama, Commonwealth Election Commission executive director Gregorio Sablan, television talk show host John Oliver Gonzales, and businessman Patrick M. Calvo.
Under the delegate act, Northern Marianas will have a representative with limited voting powers to the U.S. House of Representatives. He can serve on committees, as well as vote on legislation at the committee level. But floor voting will not be permitted.
Similar to House members and other delegates, the CNMI delegate will be elected to Congress every two years.
The first election will take place this November. To be eligible, a candidate must be at least 25 years old, a U.S. citizen and CNMI resident for at least seven years before the election, and a qualified CNMI voter on the date of the election. A candidate for CNMI delegate must not be running for any other office.
