List of governors of the Northern Mariana Islands

The following is a list of persons who served as Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands. The term of office is 4 years. The longest-serving governors in CNMI history are Pedro Tenorio, who served 12 years in office from 1982 to 1990 and from 1998 to 2002, and Benigno Fitial, who served 7 years, one month, and 11 days from 2006 to 2013.

Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands
Commonwealth seal
Incumbent Ralph Torres since December 29, 2015
Residence	Juan A. Sablan Memorial Bldg.
Term length	4 years single term, eligible for second.
Inaugural holder	Carlos S. Camacho
Formation	January 9, 1978
Website	Office of the Governor

List of Governors

Parties

  Democratic (2)   Republican (7)   Covenant (1)

No.	Portrait	Governor (Birth–Death)	Elected	Took office	Left office	Party
1		Carlos S. Camacho (born 1937)	1977	January 9, 1978	January 11, 1982		Democratic
2		Pedro Tenorio (1934–2018)	1981 1985	January 11, 1982	January 8, 1990		Republican
3		Lorenzo I. De Leon Guerrero (1935–2006)	1989	January 8, 1990	January 10, 1994		Republican
4		Froilan Tenorio (1939–2020)	1993	January 10, 1994	January 12, 1998		Democratic
5		Pedro Tenorio (1934–2018)	1997	January 12, 1998	January 14, 2002		Republican
6		Juan Babauta (born 1953)	2001	January 14, 2002	January 9, 2006		Republican
7		Benigno Fitial (born 1945)	2005 2009	January 9, 2006	February 20, 2013 [note 1]		Covenant (until 2011)
							Republican (2011 onward) [note 2]
8		Eloy Inos (1949–2015)	2014	February 20, 2013 [note 3]	December 29, 2015 [note 4]		Covenant (until 2013)
							Republican (2013 onward) [note 5]
9		Ralph Torres (born 1979)	2018	December 29, 2015 [note 6]	Incumbent		Republican

Succession

Living former governors

As of May 2018, three former governors were alive, the oldest being Carlos S. Camacho (1978–1982; born 1937). The most recent governor to die was Froilan Tenorio (1994–1998), on May 4, 2020. The most recently serving governor to die was Eloy Inos (2013–2015), who died in office on December 28, 2015.

Name	Gubernatorial term	Date of birth
Carlos S. Camacho	1978–1982	February 27, 1937
Juan Babauta	2002–2006	September 7, 1953
Benigno Fitial	2006–2013	November 27, 1945

Elections

Northern Mariana Islands gubernatorial election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Ralph Torres and Arnold Palacios	8,922	62.2%
	Independent	Juan Babauta and Rita Sablan	5,420	37.8%
Total votes			14,342	100%

2014

 Summary of the 4 and 21 November 2014 Northern Mariana Islands gubernatorial election results

Candidate		Running mate	Party	First round		Second round
				Votes	%	Votes	%
	Eloy Songao Inos	Ralph Deleon Guerrero Torres	Republican	6,342	45.96%	6,547	56.96%
	Heinz Sablan Hofschneider	Ray Naraja Yumul	Independent	4,501	32.62%	4,948	43.04%
	Juan Nekai Babauta	Juan Sablan Torres	Independent	2,414	17.50%
	Edward Masga Deleon Guerrero	Daniel Ogo Quitugua	Democratic	541	3.92%
Total				13,798	100%	11,495	100%
Source: Commonwealth Election Commission

2009

Northern Mariana Islands gubernatorial election, 2009
Party		Candidate	Running mate	First round		Second round
				Votes	Percentage	Votes	Percentage
	Republican	Heinz Hofschneider	Arnold Palacios	4,900	36.27%	6,240	48.56%
	Covenant	Benigno Fitial (incumbent)	Eloy Inos	4,892	36.21%	6,610	51.44%
	Independent	Juan Guerrero	Joe Camacho	2,613	19.34%
	Independent	Ramon Guerrero	David Borja	1,075	7.96%
Totals					100.00%		100.00%
Voter turnout

See also

• List of governors of the Spanish Mariana Islands
• List of Governors of Guam
• High Commissioner of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
• Lieutenant Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands

Footnotes

1. Fitial resigned following impeachment by the House of Representatives and prior to likely conviction in an impeachment trial by the Senate.[1][2]
2. Fitial switched his party affiliation from the Covenant Party to the Republican Party on January 5, 2011, while in office.[3]
3. As lieutenant governor, Inos became governor following the resignation of Benigno Fitial.[1][2]
4. Inos died on December 29, 2015, while in office.[4][5]
5. Inos switched his party affiliation from the Covenant Party to the Republican Party in September 2013, while in office.[6]
6. As lieutenant governor, Torres became governor following the death of Eloy Inos.[4][5]

References

1. Erediano, Emmanuel (February 21, 2013). "New governor, lt. governor". Marianas Variety. Archived from the original on February 24, 2013.
2. Eugenio, Haidee (March 2013). "Gov Benigno Fitial steps down, Eloy Inos steps in: Dawn of a New Era for CNMI?". Islands Business. Archived from the original on April 5, 2014.
3. Eugenio, Haidee (January 8, 2011). "Fitial now back to Republican Party, Governor's end goal to merge Covenant with GOP". Saipan Tribune. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013.
4. Chan, Dennis B. (December 30, 2015). "CNMI mourns Inos' death". Saipan Tribune. Archived from the original on December 29, 2015.
5. Chan, Dennis B. (December 30, 2015). "Torres becomes governor; Hocog is lt. gov". Saipan Tribune. Archived from the original on December 29, 2015.
6. Eugenio, Haidee (September 19, 2013). "Inos, Covenant Party members rejoining GOP". Saipan Tribune. Archived from the original on April 8, 2014.

External links

• Former CNMI Governor Guerrero Passes Away