Democratic Party bares Saipan lineup • Party head says Dems will take over the lower house

Democratic Party candidates and supporters will march down to the Board of Elections office in Garapan on Wednesday to file the nominating petitions for the House of Representatives candidates for the Nov. 6 mid-term elections.

“We’re expecting a big number of supporters to join the march. We want to show the board that we support free choice,” said Carlos S. Camacho, president of the Democratic Party.

Camacho said he believes the Democrat lineup will sweep the elections and take over the House of Representatives which is currently dominated by Republicans.

He admitted, however, that this year’s elections will be more competitive since each House seat is being targeted by candidates from four groups: the Democrats, the Republicans, the Independents, and the Reform Party recently launched by former Gov. Froilan C. Tenorio.

The Democratic candidates for Precinct I are incumbent Rep. Rosicky F. Camacho, former Rep. Antonio Muna Camacho, former Koblerville school vice principal Frank Deleon Demapan, former Koblerville principal Brigida Deleon Guerrero Ichihara, Florencio Tenorio Guerrero, and Juan Cepeda Tudela.

Precinct I covers the villages of Chalan Piao, San Antonio, Koblerville, Dandan, San Vicente, Papago and part of Kagman

Camacho said the democratic Party is not fielding any candidate for Precinct II which covers Chalan Kanoa and Susupe.

“We will leave Precinct II to the Republican Party and the Reform Party,” Camacho said.

The Democrat bets for Precinct III are incumbent Rep. Maximo “Timmo” Olopai, Luis Salas, and Sid Atalig Sablan.

Three House seats are at stake in Precinct III, but Camacho said “we will leave the three other seats to other parties so that the people can be free to choose among the rest of the parties.”

Precinct IV, which covers San Roque, Tanapag, As Matuis, Capitol Hill, As Teo and part of Kagman, has two seats up for grabs but the Democratic Party is nominating only incumbent Rep. Dino Jones.

“Considering that four groups will be fighting for only two seats, you can imagine what the race for this precinct would be like,” Camacho said.

The Democratic Party head said he expects all Saipan candidates to “replace all incumbent Republicans.”

Camacho said the Democratic Party of Rota and Tinian will field their own candidates.

“We will allow Rota and Tinian make their own official representation. The local leaderships of the party will select their own candidates; this is called decentralization,” Camacho said.

He said the party’s platform will be focused on economy and the CNMI-US relations. (MCM)