Idaho governor endorses BB ticket

Former U.S. senator and now Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne has issued a statement expressing strong support for the re-election bid of his fellow Republican, Gov. Juan N. Babauta.

In an open letter, Kempthorne said that Babauta’s valuable experience for 12 years as Washington Representative would be most useful to the CNMI.

He said that one of the keys to the success of his administration “has been my service in the U.S. Senate.”

Those years spent in Washington D.C., he said, have proved crucial in dealing with federal issues and in keeping relationships that have helped produce “so many positive results for our small Western state.”

When he got to D.C. in 1993, “my friend Juan Babauta already had been there a year,” he said.

He said Babauta “did an extraordinary job of making us all aware of the needs of the Commonwealth, gained valuable insights into how the federal system in Washington works, and developed influential friends and allies on whom he could call whenever the need arose.”

He said those relationships became even more valuable with the election of Republican president George Bush, and a Republican-controlled Congress.

“There is no substitute for experience,” said Kempthorne as he urged CNMI voters to re-elect Babauta and Lt. Gov. Diego T. Benavente.

“It is important to remember that George W. Bush will be our president for most of the CNMI’s next gubernatorial term…,” he said.

Kempthorne has been serving as Idaho governor since 1999.

Before that, he served a full six-year term in the U.S. Senate, winning the passage of two major bills to end unfunded federal mandates on state and local governments and revision of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act

Before this, he was elected as Boise mayor.

The Babauta-Benavente ticket earlier got the endorsement of President Bush as well as leaders of the Republican Governors Association.

The RGA letter described Babauta as “an exceptional leader who has done wonderful things for the Commonwealth.”

It said that Babauta was elected shortly after the 2001 terror attacks, which posed a real fiscal crisis to the CNMI.

“Within his first year he was able to turn the situation around, restoring government solvency without layoffs or any curtailment of essential government services,” RGA said.

“The kind of leadership and commitment he has brought to the Commonwealth deserves the support of the voters and the RGA stands firmly behind him in his campaign.” (Liberty Dones)