Kilili to seek re-election under the Democratic Party

Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) will be seeking his 8th term as the CNMI’s delegate in the U.S. House of Representatives under the NMI Democratic Party.

Sablan, who is in the U.S. mainland right now, disclosed during a Zoom conference over the weekend that he already submitted, via email, to NMI Democratic Party chair Nola K. Hix, his intent to seek re-election as a Democrat.

“Please consider this my official notice of my intent and please let me know what further I need to do to be consistent with the party’s rules and by-laws,” Sablan told Hix.

Hix forwarded Sablan’s email to Saipan Tribune.

Sablan, 66, said he will be campaigning to support the Democratic Party’s candidates for 2022 election.

Hix said the party is ready to entertain Sablan’s request to run as their nominee.

Sablan said after over months of weighing the pros and cons and looking at every angle, he and his wife, Andrea, eventually decided that he would be more useful to the people in the Marianas if he will continue doing this job as a delegate.

“After all, our people invested…over a decade [in me] to represent them in the U.S. Congress,” he said.

Sablan said he ran as independent in his previous terms but he has caucused with Democrats in Congress. He said was a Democrat when he was with the CNMI Legislature and even chaired the Democratic Party before.

Sablan said he read in the newspaper about an announcement from the Democratic Party that those who are interested to run under the party, including the delegate’s position, should submit their letter of intent. He said he sent an email to Hix informing her of his intent to seek the nomination of the Democratic Party for the position of delegate.

“If the party should allow me, should nominate me as their candidate, and I will be very honored to run as a Democrat, and then I’ll work with the party, work with the candidates, and hope to get as many winning seats as we can,” Sablan said.

He said the level of corruption that’s going on at the present time in the Commonwealth government is just unacceptable. “We need to face this matter, we need to address it and address is in a much more forceful way,” he said.

Sablan said people should understand that they pay for the cost of corruption.

He said there are many things that are coming out of the House of Representatives Judiciary and Governmental Operations Committee’s hearings.

“It’s just really, really disappointing. I’ve never seen this level of corruption,” the delegate said.

The JGO Committee is investigating Gov. Ralph DLG Torres’ expenditures of public funds and travels.
Sablan reiterated his recent statement that many people see the corruption and yet very few have been able to say “stop.”

“Enough is enough,” Sablan said.

In 2008, Sablan became CNMI’s first elected delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives. He is currently serving his seventh term.