General elections were held in

Palau Palau, officially the Republic of Palau, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the western Pacific Ocean. The Republic of Palau consists of approximately 340 islands and is the western part of the Caroline Islands ...

on 4 November 2008 to elect the President and members of the

National Congress National Congress is a term used in the names of various political parties and legislatures. Political parties *Ethiopia: Oromo National Congress, original name of the Oromo People's Congress *Guyana: People's National Congress Reform *India: **In ...

. The presidential election was won by

Johnson Toribiong Johnson Toribiong (born 22 July 1946) is a Palauan attorney and politician. Toribiong became the president of Palau, following his victory in the November 2008 election, and left office in 2013. Before 2020 elections, Toribiong has run fo ...

. Incumbent

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Tommy Remengesau Thomas Esang "Tommy" Remengesau Jr. (born 28 February 1956) is a Palauan politician. He served as the Palauan president between 2001-2009 and 2013-2021. He served as a Senator in the Palau National Congress between his two administrations. In ...

was ineligible to run because he had served the maximum two consecutive terms allowed and announced that he would run for a seat in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. This was the first election in Palau in which presidential candidates ran with a declared vice-presidential candidates. In previous elections, the President and vice-presidents had been elected separately, and the winners of those elections served as a "national leadership team".

Presidential candidates

Primary elections were held on 23 September, with two candidates progressing to the general election in November. Four candidates registered for the primary elections: *

Elias Camsek Chin Elias Camsek Chin (: born 11 October 1948) is a Palauan politician. He served as the Vice President of Palau from 1 January 2005 to 15 January 2009. He was elected as the president of the Senate of Palau from 16 January 2013 to 19 January 2017. ...

– The incumbent

Vice-President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

was seeking a promotion to the Palauan presidency. His running mate was Senator Alan R. Seid. *

– He is the current Ambassador to the

Republic of China (Taiwan) Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, and he was running with Delegate Kerai Mariur. * Surangel S. Whipps – He is the President of the

and his running mate was Billy Kuartei, the

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

for President Remengesau. * Joshua Koshiba – He is a Senator and his running mate was Governor of

Peleliu Peleliu (or Beliliou) is an island in the island nation of Palau. Peleliu, along with two small islands to its northeast, forms one of the sixteen states of Palau. The island is notable as the location of the Battle of Peleliu in World War II. ...

Jackson Ngiraingas.

Campaign

All four presidential candidates and their running mates held rallies throughout Palau. Campaigning also took place in overseas Palauan communities in the mainland

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

and 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 ...

. A total of 43 candidates ran for the thirteen seats in the Senate, while 44 candidates contested the sixteen seats in the House of Delegates. A record ten women were competing for seats in the Senate and House of Delegates, with seven women running for the at large Senate race.

Results

President

Elias Chin and Johnson Toribiong were the top two vote-getters in the primary elections. Chin and Toribiong then faced each other in the general election. In early, preliminary results Toribiong held a 130-vote lead over Chin, with 1,629 votes to Chin's 1,499. Toribiong and his running mate, Kerai Mariur, were declared the winner of the election on 7 November. It was reported that Toribiong had received a concession phone call from Vice-President Chin.

Senate

Surangel Whipps, Jr. made history by becoming the first Senator to win by write-in. He also received the highest percentage (65%) of votes of any senatorial candidate since his father achieved 73.5% of the vote.

Elected members

# Surangel Whipps Jr. (6,461) #

Raynold Oilouch Raynold B. Oilouch (born 1965 or 1966) is a Palauan politician. He has served as the Vice President of Palau from 19 January 2017 to 21 January 2021, and again since 16 January 2025. Oilouch was elected vice president in the 2016 elections. He ...

(6,073) # Mlib Tmetuchl (5,360) #Joel Toribiong (5,086) # Katharine Kesolei (4,947) # Mark U. Rudimch (4,891) # Hokkons Baules (4,437) # Adalbert Eledui (3,934) # Regina Mesebeluu(3,731) #Alfonso N. Diaz (3,603) # Tommy Remengesau Jr. (3,579) #Regis Akitaya (3,144) #Paul Ueki (3,044)

House of Delegates

By state

References

External links

Pacific Magazine: Record Number Of Women Seek Palau Senate SeatsPacific Magazine: Johnson Toribiong Wins Palau Presidential Race
{{Palauan elections

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Election and referendum articles with incomplete results Elections in Palau Non-partisan elections Palau National Congress Presidential elections in Palau