The 2018 Northern Mariana gubernatorial election took place on Tuesday, November 13, 2018, to elect the

Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

and the

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 ...

to a four-year term in office. Incumbent Republican governor

Ralph Torres Ralph Deleon Guerrero Torres (born August 6, 1979) is a Northern Marianan politician, who served as the ninth governor of the Northern Mariana Islands, from December 29, 2015, to January 9, 2023. He is a Republican from Saipan, Commonwealth of th ...

, who ascended to governorship in December 2015 following the death of Governor

Eloy Inos Eulogio "Eloy" Songao Inos (September 26, 1949 – December 28, 2015) was a Northern Marianan politician who served as the eighth governor of the Northern Mariana Islands from 2013 to 2015. Inos, a member of the Republican Party, also served as ...

, sought election to a full term. The election, which corresponds to the larger Northern Mariana general election and the United States midterms, was originally scheduled to be held on Tuesday, November 6, 2018. However, Governor

postponed all elections in the territory until November 13 due to the impact of

Typhoon Yutu Typhoon Yutu, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Rosita, was an extremely powerful tropical cyclone that caused catastrophic destruction on the islands of Tinian and Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands, and later impacted the Philippines. ...

, which struck the Northern Mariana Islands as a Category 5 storm in October 2018, shortly before the planned elections. Unlike past gubernatorial elections, there was no

runoff election The two-round system (TRS or 2RS), sometimes called ballotage, top-two runoff, or two-round plurality, is a single-winner electoral system which aims to elect a member who has support of the majority of voters. The two-round system involves one ...

in 2018, since there are only two candidates contesting the gubernatorial contest, incumbent Ralph Torres and former governor

Juan Babauta Juan Nekai Babauta (born September 7, 1953) is a Northern Mariana Islander politician who served as the sixth governor of the Northern Mariana Islands from January 14, 2002, to January 9, 2006. Biography Early life and education Juan Babauta wa ...

. On November 13, 2018, Governor Torres won his first full term as

Election background

In the 2014 gubernatorial race, Republican governor

and his

running mate A running mate is a person running together with another person on a joint ticket during an election. The term is most often used in reference to the person in the subordinate position (such as the vice presidential candidate running with a pre ...

, were elected to a full four-year term. The Inos-Torres ticket defeated independent candidate

Heinz Hofschneider Heinz Sablan Hofschneider (born July 1, 1957) is a politician from the Northern Mariana Islands. Hofschneider served as the Speaker of the Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives from 2002 to 2004 and is a four-time candidate for Govern ...

in the gubernatorial runoff on November 18, 2014. Governor Eloy Inos

died in office A death in office is the death of a person who was incumbent of an office-position until the time of death. Such deaths have been usually due to natural causes, but they are also caused by accidents, suicides, disease and assassinations. The deat ...

at a hospital in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

, on Monday, December 28, 2015 (local time in Seattle). Because of the time difference from Seattle, it was already Tuesday morning, December 29, in the Northern Mariana Islands at the time of Governor Inos' death. Lieutenant Governor Ralph Torres became the new governor of the Northern Mariana Islands on Tuesday, December 29, to serve the remainder of Inos' unexpired term. Victor Hocog, the then-President of the

Northern Mariana Islands Senate The Northern Mariana Islands Senate is the upper house of the Northern Mariana Islands Commonwealth Legislature. The Senate consists of nine senators representing three senatorial districts (Saipan & the Northern Islands, Tinian & Aguijan, a ...

, was sworn in as the new lieutenant governor later that day on December 29. On November 8, 2017, Lt. Governor Victor Hocog announced that he would not run for re-election as lieutenant governor in 2018. Instead, he would seek election for one of the two Senate seats representing the island of Rota in the 2018 general election. Governor Ralph Torres declared his candidacy for a full term in a press conference on November 19, 2017, at his home in As Teo. Torres chose Senate President

Arnold Palacios Arnold Indalecio Palacios (born August 22, 1955) is a Northern Marianan politician currently serving as the tenth governor of the Northern Mariana Islands, since 2023. He previously served as the 12th lieutenant governor of the Northern Mariana Is ...

as his new running mate for lieutenant governor in 2018 gubernatorial contest.

, the former governor from 2002 to 2006, announced his candidacy on April 12, 2018, as an independent. He selected Dr. Rita Sablan, the former commissioner of the

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Public School System Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Public School System (CNMI PSS) is a school district serving the Northern Mariana Islands, a Territories of the United States, United States territory. Its headquarters are in Susupe, Saipan. Schoo ...

, as his running mate for lieutenant governor. His candidacy was supported by territorial delegate

Gregorio Sablan Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan ( ; born January 19, 1955) is an American politician and former election commissioner. Elected in 2008, Sablan became the first delegate to the United States House of Representatives from the Commonwealth of the ...

, an independent who caucuses with the national Democratic Party in

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

Election postponement

The Northern Mariana Islands' general and gubernatorial elections were originally scheduled for Tuesday, November 6, 2018, to correspond with the nationwide 2018 United States midterm elections. However,

made landfall in the Northern Mariana Islands as a Category 5

super typhoon Since 1947, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) has classified all typhoons in the Tropical cyclone basins#Northwestern Pacific Ocean, Northwestern Pacific Ocean with wind speeds of at least —the equivalent of a strong Category 4 on th ...

, devastating the main islands of

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 ...

and

Tinian Tinian () is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). Together with uninhabited neighboring Aguiguan, it forms Tinian Municipality, one of the four constituent municipalities of the Northern ...

. In response, Governor Torres postponed all elections in the Northern Mariana Islands until Tuesday, November 13, 2018, including the gubernatorial race. Early voting was held from Tuesday, November 6, 2018, until Monday, November 12, 2018.

Candidates

(Independent), former governor (2002–2006) and 2014 gubernatorial candidate; candidacy announced on April 12, 2018 ** Running mate: Rita Sablan, former Education Commissioner of the Northern Mariana Islands Public School System (2009–2016). Sablan was previously one of three individuals shortlisted by the Democratic Party to serve as the running mate for Joe Inos during his short time as an active candidate. *

(Republican), incumbent governor (since December 29, 2015) ** Running mate:

, president of the

(since January 9, 2017). Palacios was announced as Torres's running mate on November 19, 2017.

Withdrew

* Joseph Songao Inos (Democratic), former mayor of Rota, former member of the

, and brother of the late Governor

. Inos announced his candidacy on January 19, 2018, but withdrew from the race on February 7, 2018, citing a lack of unified support from his family. Prior to dropping out, Inos was expected to name his running mate on February 15, 2018.

Endorsements

Results

The gubernatorial contest was held on Tuesday, November 13, 2018, having been delayed one week due to recovery efforts from

. Early voting began on November 6. Incumbent

won re-election to his first full term.

References

{{Northern Mariana Islands elections 2018 Northern Mariana Islands elections

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 ...

2018 in the Northern Mariana Islands