Lizama top spender in ’08 election

Retired judge Juan T. Lizama spent more on his campaign than did the top three vote-getters in the Northern Marianas’ first-ever election for the congressional delegate, according to preliminary disclosures filed with the Federal Election Commission.

The pre-election financial reports, available on the FEC website, also reveal that Delegate-elect Gregorio Kilili Sablan needed less than $15,000 to win the historic election.

As of Oct. 15, 2008, about three weeks before the election, Sablan had spent $14,668 of the $17,604 he had received from campaign contributors.

As previously reported, runner-up Pete A. Tenorio was in debt by $4,175. The CNMI’s resident representative to Washington, D.C., received net contributions of $31,600 and posted net operating expenditures of $37,650.

The campaign fund of television talk show host John Oliver Gonzales, who finished third in the congressional race, was short by $12,504. Net contributions to his campaign totaled $18,516, and his net operating expenditures amounted to $15,502.

The largest spender of the four top candidates was Lizama, who reported total contributions of $55,298 and net operating expenditures of $52,143.

Contributors

A review of the candidates’ respective lists of contributors shows that Lizama funded his campaign mostly from his own pocket. The former judge reported having personally paid $48,503—over 85 percent—of the total cost of his campaign. Other individuals who contributed to his campaign were not named.

Sablan put $150 into his own campaign. His wife Andrea, a sales manager at DFS Galleria on Saipan, contributed $2,000 to Sablan’s candidacy. Other individuals who helped fund Sablan’s campaign include: attorney Edward Arriola, who contributed $300; Bank of Guam chief executive officer and president Lourdes Guerrero, $500; businessman Rick Kautz Jr., $250; Saipan Shipping Co. manager Roman Palacios, $300; Sen. Maria Pangelinan, $500; and Gov. Benigno R. Fitial’s press secretary Charles P. Reyes Jr., $200.

Sablan’s campaign also received funds from Bert M. Sablan, $380; Florence C. Sablan, $300; businessman Nick Sablan, $200; Carlsmith Law Office manager Ruth Sablan, $350; businesswoman Becky Tenorio; businessman Juan S. Tenorio; and retiree Lucy Tenorio, $300.

Sablan also received $7,789 in unitemized contributions.

Gonzalez reported putting in $1,600 from his own pocket and receiving $13,097 from unnamed individual contributors. His wife, Charlene, gave $1,297. Other contributors to Gonzales’ campaign include: Department of Commerce’s Magge Camacho, $250; retiree Delfina Manibusan, $425; attorney Edward Manibusan, $1,139; and Joeten Enterprises president Annie T. Sablan, $1,200.

As reported earlier, Tenorio spent $10,227 out of his own pocket. The NMI Republican Party paid $2,500 to the campaign, and unitemized individual contributions totaled $8,326. Individual contributors named in Tenorio’s filing include: Northern Marianas College dean Felicitas Abraham, $1,225; retiree Isamu Abraham, $400; former CNMI lt. governor Francisco C. Ada, $500; Washington, DC-based attorney Thomas Crowe, $250; Docomo Inc. counsel David Jeppsen, $250; Sen. Maria Frica Pangelinan, $300; Century Insurance president David Sablan, $250; Virginia-based attorney Orson Swindle III; and businessman Juan S. Tenorio, $1,450._Tenorio also received contributions from his employees, including: chief of staff Malinda Matson, $1,152; administrative and finance officer Rose McDermott, $250; and legislative assistant Roman T. Palacios, $250.

These candidates are required by law to file updated financial reports in January 2009.

Other candidates who ran election for a non-voting delegate are: Sen. Luis Crisostimo, former senator David Cing, Saipan municipal councilman Felipe Q. Atalig, businessman Chong Man Won, and high school teacher John Davis. Their financial disclosures are not available on the FEC website.

According to the FEC, some individuals and their committees have no obligation to file reports under federal election law, even though their names may appear on state ballots. If an individual raises or spends less than $5,000, he or she is not subject to reporting under the law.