{"id":364442,"date":"2022-03-18T06:01:10","date_gmt":"2022-03-17T20:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=364442"},"modified":"2022-03-18T06:01:10","modified_gmt":"2022-03-17T20:01:10","slug":"magofna-seeks-re-election-as-an-independent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/magofna-seeks-re-election-as-an-independent\/","title":{"rendered":"Magofna seeks re-election as an independent"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rep. Corina L. Magofna (D-Saipan), who ran as a Democrat and won a Precinct 3 seat in the House of Representatives during a special election last Oct. 16, is seeking re-election on Nov. 8 but this time as an independent candidate. <\/p>\n

Magofna assured, though, in a statement yesterday that, although her party affiliation may have changed, \u201cmy heart and commitment to serve our people remains the same, stout, strong, and unwavering.\u201d She added, \u201cI feel that I must focus on working for the people of Precinct 3.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said the voters of Precinct 3 elected her to fill a House seat that was left vacant when Rep. Ivan Blanco passed away on July 23, 2021, and that she is deeply humbled by the vote of confidence.<\/p>\n

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Magofna<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As to why she is running as an independent candidate and not under the NMI Democratic Party, Magofna said she made the decision after many deep and lengthy conversations and discussions with family members, friends, and, most importantly, her constituents.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did it to help our people and not for any particular party. My loyalty is to the people,\u201d she told Saipan Tribune. <\/p>\n

Magofna is a former budget officer at the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. She has a bachelor\u2019s degree in Business Accounting from the University of Phoenix and an associate degree in Accounting from the University of Hawaii. <\/p>\n

She first ran for the House in November 2020, but she was 34 votes shy of securing victory. <\/p>\n

At the special election, Magofna handily defeated Grace \u201cPitu\u201d Sablan Vaiagae of the NMI Republican Party. She took her oath of office last Oct. 20. <\/p>\n

In the last five months that she has worked as a representative, Magofna said she has contributed positively to highlight the community\u2019s concerns about transparency, fairness, and ongoing oversight with regard to taxpayer funds (local and federal).<\/p>\n

She added that she has supported cross-aisle legislation that has positively impacted the community and she hopes that she has earned their trust and served them well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thank you all for believing in me to represent you and be your voice in [the Legislature]. I fervently believe that I have worked diligently for your and our community\u2019s best interest,\u201d the lawmaker said.<\/p>\n

Magofna said she decided to run for office as an independent after \u201cmuch deliberation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I humbly ask for your continued support,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

The lawmaker said she wants the people to know that she is still the Corina that they have voted to public office, and that she is still the same person with the same principles and commitment to everyone.<\/p>\n

Magofna said she has no quarrel with her Democratic Party colleagues and that she wishes them all the best. \u201cAfter all, we are all striving for fairness and equality. No \u2018pay to play\u2019 politics, no sweetheart deals, and no special contracts under the disguise of an emergency need,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The lawmaker said her door will always be open and that she hopes that she may once again be afforded by the people of the Commonwealth the opportunity to continue to serve their interests at the Legislature.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are one Marianas. We are resilient. And we are a respectful and caring community,\u201d Magofna said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rep. Corina L. Magofna (D-Saipan), who ran as a Democrat and won a Precinct 3…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":356735,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[900],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-364442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=364442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364442\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/356735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=364442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=364442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=364442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}