Joseph James Norita Camacho (born ) is a politician from the

Northern Mariana Islands The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), is an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territory and Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States consistin ...

. He is an incumbent judge on the Northern Mariana Islands Superior Court, the commonwealth's

trial court A trial court or court of first instance is a court having original jurisdiction, in which trials take place. Appeals from the decisions of trial courts are usually heard by higher courts with the power of appellate review (appellate courts). ...

, and has served there since 2011. Prior, he was a member of the

Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives The Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives is the lower house of the Northern Mariana Islands Commonwealth Legislature. In the 2007 election cycle, the CNMI House membership was increased from 18 to 20. Representatives serve two-ye ...

Biography

Camacho was born to parents Vicente (Ben Dinga) Tudela Camacho and Marcy Lieto Norita Camacho, both of whom are now deceased. He was raised by Torcauto Borja Tudela. Camacho's wife is Ellsbeth Viola Alepuyo. The couple have one child, Ulen Joseph Vicente Alepuyo Camacho.

Early life and career

Camacho graduated from Marianas High School in June 1987. He received an

Associate of Arts An associate degree or associate's degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of academic qualification above a high school diploma and below a bachelor's degree ...

degree in

Liberal Arts Liberal arts education () is a traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''skill, art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the fine arts. ''Liberal arts education'' can refe ...

from

Northern Marianas College Northern Marianas College (NMC) is a public land-grant college in the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands ( CNMI). The college was founded in Susupe in 1976. NMC today has three campuses on the islands of Saipan, Tinian, ...

in May 1992. In December 1994, Camacho further obtained a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

from

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Camacho continued his education by earning his

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

public administration Public administration, or public policy and administration refers to "the management of public programs", or the "translation of politics into the reality that citizens see every day",Kettl, Donald and James Fessler. 2009. ''The Politics of the ...

from

Seattle University Seattle University (Seattle U or SU) is a private Jesuit university in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the largest independent university in the Northwestern United States, with over 7,500 students enrolled in undergraduate and grad ...

, a

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

institution in

Washington state Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

, in December 1998. Camacho completed his

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

at the

Gonzaga University School of Law The Gonzaga University School of Law (also known as Gonzaga Law or GU Law) is the professional school for the study of law at Gonzaga University. Established in 1912, the Jesuit-affiliated law school has been fully accredited by the American Ba ...

, located in

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south o ...

, in December 2001. He worked as a pizza delivery man and a dishwasher during college. Camacho worked as a

police officer A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a Warrant (law), warranted law employee of a police, police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. ...

Saipan Saipan () is the largest island and capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, an unincorporated Territories of the United States, territory of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean. According to 2020 estimates by the United States Cens ...

for three years from January 1989 to August 1991.

Political career

Joseph Camacho, a Republican, was elected to the

in the 2007 general election. In the 2007 election, the Covenant Party lost control of the House to the Republicans. Camacho was chosen as the floor leader of the new 16th House of Representatives. He did not seek reelection in 2009.

Runs for higher office

Democrat gubernatorial candidate Juan "Pan" Guerrero approached Camacho, a Republican, in 2009 and asked him to run on his ticket for

Lieutenant Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands has a self-governing government consisting of a locally elected governor, lieutenant governor and the Northern Mariana Islands Commonwealth Legislature. The current lieutenant governor is David ...

. Camacho accepted Guerrero's offer to run as part of the Independent ticket, which he called a "

partnership A partnership is an agreement where parties agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments or combinations. Organizations ...

." The acceptance ceremony for the gubernatorial campaign took place on March 10, 2009, at Tan Marikita Café in

Garapan Garapan ( Old Japanese name: 柄帆町, ''Garapan-chō'') is the largest village and the center of the tourism industry on the island of Saipan, which is a part of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). Garapan, ...

. Camacho explained in his speech to supporters that he had weighed all his political options before agreeing to run for Lieutenant Governor with Guerrero Camacho thanked Guerrero for the opportunity, noting that Guerrero had promised to make both the campaign and a potential administration a full "partnership." The Guerrero/Camacho ticket only received 2,643 votes and came in a distant third in the polling. Camacho announced in March 2010 his intentions to run for United States Congress as a candidate for the Covenant Party.

Judgeship

In 2011, Governor

Benigno Fitial Benigno Repeki Fitial (born November 27, 1945) is a Northern Marianan politician who served as the seventh governor of the Northern Mariana Islands. The second longest-serving governor in CNMI history, Fitial was elected on November 6, 2005, assum ...

appointed Camacho to the serve as a judge of the Superior Court, the trial level courts for the Northern Mariana Islands. Camacho was confirmed by the Northern Mariana Islands Senate unanimously. He was sworn in November 19, 2011, taking his oath in Carolinian. Camacho succeeded Ramona Villagomez Manglona who was appointed to serve as a judge for the

United States District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands The District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands (in case citations, D. N. Mar. I.) is a federal territorial court whose jurisdiction comprises the United States-affiliated Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). It was establ ...

. He was retained in 2016 with 78% of the votes cast and in 2022 with 75% of the votes cast.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Camacho, Joe 1960s births Year of birth uncertain Living people Members of the Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives Northern Mariana Islands lawyers Gonzaga University alumni Seattle University alumni San Jose State University alumni Covenant Party (Northern Mariana Islands) politicians