Democratic Party of the Northern Mariana Islands | |
|---|---|
.png) | |
| Chairman | Jonathan Cabrera |
| Vice Chairwoman | Luella Marciano |
| Secretary | Melia Johnson |
| Treasurer | Shawna Indalecio |
| Founded | 1978 |
| Preceded by | Popular Party |
| Headquarters | Saipan,Northern Mariana Islands |
| Ideology | Modern liberalism[1] |
| Political position | Center-left[1] |
| National affiliation | Democratic Party |
| Colors | Blue |
| Northern Mariana Islands Governor | 0 / 1 |
| Northern Mariana Islands Lieutenant Governor | 0 / 1 |
| U.S. House of Representatives | 0 / 1 |
| Northern Mariana Islands Senate | 2 / 9 |
| Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives | 2 / 20 |
| Northern Mariana Islands Mayors | 0 / 4 |
| Election symbol | |
 | |
| Website | |
| nmidems.org | |
TheDemocratic Party of the Northern Mariana Islands is a political party in theNorthern Mariana Islands. It began as a purely local territorial party and is now officially affiliated with theUnited States' nationalDemocratic Party.
In 1977, the Popular Party changed its name to the Democratic Party. The Popular Party's opponent, the Territorial Party, would change its name to the Republican Party in 1981.[2]
The CNMI has not elected a Democratic Governor since 1993, whenFroilan Tenorio was elected. At thelegislative elections of November 1, 2003 the party won 1 out of 18 seats. It won an extra seat in the 2005 legislative elections. Its candidate Froilan Tenorio won 18% in the 2005gubernatorial election. In the November 3, 2007 Commonwealth Legislatureelections, the party took only 1 of 20 seats in the House of Representatives.[3][4]
In 2009, for the first time ever, the Democratic Party did not nominate a candidate in thegubernatorial election. They fielded a candidate for Mayor ofSaipan (Angelo Villagomez), along with two CNMI House candidates and one CNMI Senate candidate.[5]
In August 2016, the Commonwealth Election Commission recognized the party for the 2016 election year. Three of the 67 political candidates on the NMI are Democrats.[6]
The party organized the2020 Northern Mariana Islands Democratic caucuses.[7]
In the 2020 elections, four incumbent representatives announced that they would run for re-election as Democrats.[8] The party is running 18 candidates, and supporting 3 independent candidates. Prior to the election, there were zero Democrats in either chamber of theCommonwealth Legislature.[9] The result of the 2020 general election was that the CNMI had experienced ablue wave as the party gained nine Democrats and the three endorsed independents were elected to office.[10] For the first time in a decade, representatives affiliated with the Democratic Party had seats in the legislature. In the special election to replace the late Republican legislatorIvan A. Blanco, Democratic candidateCorina Magofna won the special election, flipping the seat.[11]
In the2022 gubernatorial election, the party nominatedTina Sablan for governor withLeila Staffler as her running mate.[12] She lost the 1st race, conceded, and endorsed independent candidateArnold Palacios and his running mateDavid Apatang.[13] The party lost much of their gains from the previous election in the House, winning 4 seats, half of their previous win. They did gain a seat in the Senate, increasing their number to 2.[14]
The Democratic Party of the Northern Mariana Islands has defended Article 12 of the CNMI Constitution which restricts land alienation to persons of Northern Marianas descent.[15]
 | This sectionis missing information about 20th century elections. Please expand the section to include this information. Further details may exist on thetalk page.(July 2025) |
| Election year | Candidate | Running mate | First round | Second round | Result | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Rank | Votes | % | Rank | ||||
| 1977 | Carlos S. Camacho | Francisco Ada | TBD | TBD |  1st | N/a | Won | ||
| 1981 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | N/a | Lost | ||
| 1986 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | N/a | Lost | ||
| 1989 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | N/a | Lost | ||
| 1993 | Froilan Tenorio | Jesus Borja | TBD | TBD | 1st | N/a | Won | ||
| 1997 | Froilan Tenorio | TBA | TBD | 27.4 |  2nd | N/a | Lost | ||
| 2001 | Jesus Borja | Bridget Ichihara | 2,117 | 18.20 | 3rd | N/a | Lost | ||
| 2005 | Froilan Cruz "Lang" Tenorio | Antonio Aguon Santos | 2,440 | 18.11 | 4th | N/a | Lost | ||
| 2009 | Did not contest | ||||||||
| 2012 | Edward Guerrero | Danny Quitugua | 541 | 3.92 |  4th | N/a | Lost | ||
| 2018 | Joseph S. Inos (withdrew) | Did not contest | |||||||
| 2022 | Tina Sablan | Leila Haveia Fleming Clark Staffler | 4,132 | 28.01 | 3rd | N/a | Lost | ||
| Election year | Candidate | Votes | % | Rank | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | David Mendiola Cing | 307 | 3.02 | 6th | Lost |
| 2010 | Jesus Borja | 1,707 | 15.07 | 4th | Lost |
| 2012 | Did not contest | ||||
| 2014 | Andrew Sablan Salas | 4,547 | 34.72 | 2nd | Lost |
| 2016 | Did not contest | ||||
| 2018 | Did not contest | ||||
| 2020 | Did not contest | ||||
| 2022 | Gregorio Sablan | 12,315 | 100.00 | 1st | Won |
| 2024 | Ed Propst | 4,067 | 33.27 | 2nd | Lost |
| Election | Seats | +/– | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Up for election | Total | |||
| 1999 | 1 / 3 | 2 / 9 | 1 | Minority |
| 2001 | 0 / 6 | 1 / 9 | 1 | Minority |
| 2003 | 1 / 3 | 2 / 9 | 1 | Minority |
| 2005 | 1 / 6 | 2 / 9 | 0 | Minority |
| 2007 | 0 / 3 | 1 / 9 | 1 | Minority |
| 2009 | 0 / 6 | 0 / 9 | 1 | Not represented |
| 2012 | Did not contest | Not represented | ||
| 2014 | 0 / 6 | 0 / 9 | 0 | Not represented |
| 2016 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 9 | 0 | Not represented |
| 2018 | Did not contest | Not represented | ||
| 2020 | 1 / 3 | 1 / 9 | 1 | Minority |
| 2022 | 1 / 6 | 2 / 9 | 1 | Minority |
| 2024 | 1 / 3 | 2 / 9 | 0 | Minority |
| Election year | Seats | +/– | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 5 / 18 | TBD | Minority |
| 1999 | 6 / 18 | 1 | Minority |
| 2001 | 1 / 18 | 5 | Minority |
| 2003 | 1 / 18 | 0 | Minority |
| 2005 | 2 / 18 | 1 | Minority |
| 2007 | 1 / 20 | 1 | Minority |
| 2009 | 0 / 20 | 1 | Not represented |
| 2012 | Did not contest | 0 | Not represented |
| 2014 | 0 / 20 | 0 | Not represented |
| 2016 | 0 / 20 | 0 | Not represented |
| 2018 | 0 / 20 | 0 | Not represented |
| 2020 | 8 / 20 | 8 | Majority coalition |
| 2022 | 4 / 20 | 4 | Majority coalition |
| 2024 | 2 / 20 | 2 | Majority coalition |
Modern liberalism occupies the left-of-center in the traditional political spectrum and is represented by the Democratic Party in the United States.
