2022 Northern Mariana Islands general election

Gubernatorial election

8 November, 2022 (first round) 25 November, 2022 (runoff)

Nominee Arnold Palacios Ralph Torres Party Independent Republican Running mate David Apatang Vinnie Sablan Popular vote 7,394 6,263 Percentage 54.14% 45.86%

Results by voting district: Arnold Palacios:      50–55%      60–65%      65–70% Ralph Torres:      50–55%      65–70%      70–75%

Governor before election Ralph Torres Republican Elected Governor Arnold Palacios Independent

House election

All 20 seats in the House of Representatives 11 seats needed for a majority

Party Seats Independents 13 Democratic 4 Republican 3 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

Senate election

6 of the 9 seats in the Senate 5 seats needed for a majority

Party Seats Republican 4 Independents 3 Democratic 2 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

Politics of the Northern Mariana Islands
Governor Arnold Palacios Lieutenant Governor David M. Apatang Legislature Senate House of Representatives Political parties Political party strength Elections: 2009, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022 U.S. Congressional elections 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022
Politics of the United States  Politics portal

The 2022 Northern Mariana Islands general election was held on Tuesday, 8 November, 2022,^[1][2] corresponding with the elections of other federal and state offices, including the nationwide 2022 United States House of Representatives elections and the 2022 United States general elections. A runoff for the gubernatorial race were held on Friday, 25 November, 2022.^[1][2][3] This election saw the election of the CNMI's first independent governor and lieutenant governor.^[2][4] Both the CNMI Democratic Party and the CNMI Republican Party displayed lackluster results when compared to the independents in the Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives. This election also saw the first time the Democratic Party contested the governorship since the 2014 Northern Mariana Islands general election^{[lower-alpha 1]} and the first time said party received more than 10% of the popular vote since the 2005 Northern Mariana Islands general election.^{[lower-alpha 2]}

Background

Gubernatorial election

Ralph Deleon Guerrero Torres, the incumbent republican governor ran for another term alongside running mate Vinson Flores "Vinnie" Sablan. Lieutenant Governor Arnold Indalecio Palacios, a career republican, also contested the seat as an independent with Saipan mayor David Mundo Apatang as his running mate. For the first time since the 2014 Northern Mariana Islands general election, the Democratic Party contested the gubernatorial race, nominating Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives member and the first woman to be nominated for Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands, Christina Marie Elise Sablan (Tina Sablan). She chose fellow territorial representative Leila Haveia Fleming Clark Staffler as her running mate.

In the general election, Ralph Torres came in first with 38.83% of the vote, followed by Arnold Palacios at 33.15% and Tina Sablan at 28.01%.^[2] Because no candidate received more than 50% of the vote, a runoff between Ralph Torres and Arnold Palacios was held on 25 November, 2022.^[1][2][3] Tina Sablan and Leila Staffler endorsed Arnold Palacios in the runoff, and Arnold Palacios and David Apatang signed a "unity pledge" with them promising action on several policy issues, including health care, labor, and infrastructure.

Arnold Palacios and David Apatang won the runoff election with 54.14% of the vote to 45.86% for Ralph Torres and Sablan.^[2] Arnold Palacios was the first independent elected Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands and the first independent to win a gubernatorial election in any U.S. state or territory since 2014.^{[lower-alpha 3]}

Delegate to the US House of Representatives

Incumbent Representative Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan, previously an independent who caucused with the Democratic Party, ran for re-election as the Democratic nominee for the first time in his career. Sablan, first elected in 2008, had held the seat since its creation in 2009. Delegate Gregorio Sablan was re-elected. The Northern Mariana Islands' non-voting delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives was elected for a two-year term.

Northern Mariana Islands Commonwealth Legislature

Results Summary

Parties		House Election Results			Seat Change	Party Strength
		2020	2021[5][6][lower-alpha 4]	2022	+/−	Strength
	Independent	3	3 ()	13	10	65.00%
	Democratic	8	9 (1)	4	5	20.00%
	Republican	9	8 (1)	3	5	15.00%
Totals		20	20	20		100.00%

Parties		Senate Election Results		Seat Change	Party Strength
		2020	2022	+/−	Strength
	Republican	5	4	1	44.44%
	Independent	3	3		33.33%
	Democratic	1	2	1	22.22%
Totals		9	9		100.00%

Mayors

All four mayoral posts were up for election across the Commonwealth.

Attorney General

Municipal Council

Board of education

Justices

Judges

Notes

References