Diego launches bid for governor

Rep. Diego Benavente announced yesterday his plan to run for governor under the Republican banner in the 2009 elections.

Benavente is the first to declare his candidacy among the several Republicans believed to be eyeing the gubernatorial seat. He will name his running mate in the coming weeks, he said yesterday.

“Most gubernatorial races are started two years in advance. We’re less than a year from the election. I believe it is necessary to begin this campaign as soon as possible. There is so much we need to do,” said the former lieutenant governor.

The incumbent governor, Benigno R. Fitial, has already declared his intention to run again.

Benavente has already asked the NMI Republican Party to endorse his gubernatorial bid. He said he is prepared to go through a primary election. Benavente is expected to face off with at least two other Republican candidates: former governor Juan N. Babauta, with whom Benavente served as lieutenant governor, and Rep. Heinz Hofschneider, who ran an independent campaign for governor in 2005 after the GOP supported the Babauta-Benavente ticket without holding a primary.

“In the past, the party had held primaries and it had been successful in winning elections. The one time we did not hold a primary, we lost. I look forward to the primary,” he said.

In a letter to local GOP president Edward S. Tenorio, Benavente said he is ready to take on the economic crisis currently facing the Commonwealth.

“I humbly step up to answer the call for a steady hand of leadership to take the charge as our Commonwealth’s next governor,” Benavente wrote. “As House speaker for several terms and as lt. governor, I developed the greatest skill required of any elected official: the ability to get results by building a consensus, to work together, and to agree in a way which achieves the ultimate goal that is best for our people. That is the Republican way.”

He also said he intends to pick a running mate “with whom I share the vision of working hard now for our future.” He added, “Together, we will roll up our sleeves and together we will work for our citizens, not ourselves.”

Benavente first ran for office in 1987, when he lost his bid for Precinct II representative by six votes. He secured the post in his second attempt in 1989, and went on to serve in the House of Representatives for six consecutive terms, including three terms during which he served as Speaker of the House.

In 2001, he won the gubernatorial election side by side with Babauta. The two lost their re-election bid in 2005, in what is believed to be the result of Hofschneider’s breakaway from the party.

Last year, Benavente was once again elected to the House of Representatives. He currently serves as chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Federal and Foreign Relations.