Republican Party of American Samoa Vaega Faaupufai Fa'asao o Amerika Sāmoa | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chairman | Utu Abe Malae |
| Vice Chairman | John Raynar |
| National Committeewoman | Amata Coleman Radewagen |
| National Committeeman | Su'a Carl Schuster |
| Treasurer | Tina Ione |
| Founded | 1985[1] |
| Headquarters | P.O. Box 3564,Pago Pago, AS 96799 |
| Ideology | Conservatism |
| National affiliation | Republican Party |
| Colors | Red |
| U.S. House of Representatives | 1 / 1 |
| Seats in theAmerican Samoa Senate | 0 / 18 |
| Seats in theAmerican Samoa House of Representatives | 4 / 21 |
| Election symbol | |
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Republican Party of American Samoa (Samoan:Vaega Faaupufai Fa'asao o Amerika Sāmoa) is the affiliate of theU.S. Republican Party inAmerican Samoa. It is based in the territorial capital ofPago Pago.[2]
The party was founded byPeter Tali Coleman.[3] Coleman was in 1956 the firstSamoan to be appointed Governor. He became the first popularly elected Governor in 1977 and won re-election in 1980 and 1988.
Coleman's daughter,Aumua Amata Radewagen, is a current Congresswoman and also the party's National Committee Woman.[4] She received the unanimous endorsement from the party in 2018 in order to run for Congress. She is the first woman to represent American Samoa in theU.S. House of Representatives.[5][6] She is also the first Republican representative in Congress from American Samoa. In 2018, she won reelection with 83.3 percent of the vote,[7] the highest number of votes in American Samoa history.[8][9] She has represented the party in theRepublican National Committee (RNC) since 1986.
In 2008, all delegates were won byJohn McCain. In the2012 Republican primary,Mitt Romney won all nine delegates from American Samoa.[10] In the2016 American Samoa Republican caucuses,Donald Trump won all nine delegates.[11][12]
In March 2016, the party elected new leadership in the lead up to the 2016American Samoa Republican Caucus.[13]
| Party Leader | Position |
|---|---|
| Utu Abe Malae | Chairman |
| John Raynar | Vice-Chairman |
| Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen | National Committeewoman |
| Su'a Carl Schuster | National Committeeman |
| Sailitafa Samoa | Secretary |
| Tina Ione | Treasurer |
The Republican Party of American Samoa was officially organized in 1985.[14]
In the 2014 elections, Radewagen was elected as American Samoa's Delegate to Congress.[15] After having served fourteen consecutive terms in Washington, DC, DemocratEni Faleomavaega lost his reelection bid to RepublicanAumua Amata during the2014 American Samoan general election.[16] She won reelection in2016 with 75.4%,[17] and won reelection with 83.3% of the votes in athree-way race in 2018.[7]
In 2015, the Republican Party of American Samoa party criticized theDemocratic National Committee for asking its then vice-chairTulsi Gabbard, who was born in American Samoa, not to attend apresidential primary debate in Nevada. The Republican Party of American Samoa also planned to invite Gabbard to their next Republican primary debate.[18]