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GOP endorses Maratita, Salas, Ada, and Tenorio
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Posted on Apr 27 2005
The Republican Party is endorsing the re-election bid of Rep. Janet Maratita and the candidacy of five other candidates, including a newcomer, businessman Ed Salas, for the House of Representatives from Precinct I.
The official list also includes three GOP incumbents: Reps. Benjamin Seman, Joseph Deleon Guerrero, and Martin B. Ada, as well as former congressman Manuel A. Tenorio.
The party is endorsing the candidacy of James A. Ada for Saipan mayor and Sen. Thomas “Kiyu” Villagomez for the Senate.
The list does not include the name of Republican senator Pete P. Reyes, who has been critical of the Babauta leadership.
Maratita, who ran and won a House seat in the 2003 elections under the Covenant Party, formally joined the administration party recently.
Her departure from Covenant Party was allegedly due to “personal differences” with the House leadership. In recent months, Maratita has been siding with the House minority when voting on crucial issues. Maratita, a first time congresswoman, allegedly felt belittled and discriminated by the leadership.
House leadership spokesman Charles Reyes Jr. quickly disputed “the alleged intimidation and harassment.” He said that the leadership, headed by House Speaker Benigno R. Fitial, has in fact been “very patient” with Maratita.
“Quite contrary, the leadership has been very patient [with her] despite numerous disagreements and numerous votes going the other direction, going away from the leadership,” he said.
On several occasions, he said that the speaker had wanted “to bring her back into the team and foster good relations but apparently these attempts have not been successful, which is regrettable.”
Charles Reyes said that he is not personally aware of any formal decision being rendered on the status of Maratita in Covenant Party.
The GOP, meantime, publicly acknowledged the entry of the congresswoman in a newspaper political ad Tuesday.
Precinct I chair John Castro confirmed the list yesterday.
