By Mar-Vic Cagurangan and Jayvee Vallejera
As Nov. 5 draws near, Guam voters are gauging how outcomes of the 2024 midterm elections could frame the public policy landscape and guide the priorities of the 38th Guam Legislature.
Despite typical bipartisan wrangling, Guam Democrats and Republicans agree on key issues shaping the local elections: the economy, education, medical care and public safety.
The Democratic Party of Guam holds majority control of the 37th Guam Legislature. Eight incumbent Democrats and six Republicans are seeking reelection. Neither party has completed the 15-spot slate. All candidates from the August primary who received more than the 4 percent vote threshold to advance to the general elections have made it to the November race.
In previous primaries, the Democratic Party typically had a crowded lot. This year, the Republican Party, with 14 candidates, outnumbers the Democratic Party, which has only 11 bets.
What are the odds of the Democrats retaining a majority in the 38th Guam Legislature?
Rikki Orsini, vice chair of the Democratic Party of Guam, is confident that voters will elect a Democratic majority again. “Democratic senators have successfully passed legislation that put money back into the pockets of our people through power credits, assisted businesses recovering from the effects of the pandemic, extended apprenticeship programs to provide good-paying jobs, funded affordable housing, ensured safe schools and supported the recruitment of more law enforcement officers and medical personnel,” she said.
She said the listed items remain important issues “that our Democratic legislature and administration have been making significant progress on.”
Orsini said the party’s new Democratic candidates intend to focus on helping small businesses, providing more programs for veterans, helping families and supporting new medical care facilities.
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Not so fast, said Shawn Gumataotao, chair of the Republican Party of Guam and a senatorial candidate.
Gumataotao said the Republican Party expects its slate to win the majority. “There has been an excitement for our slate of candidates in the 2024 Guam election cycle that we have not seen in nearly 20 years,” he added.
Gumataotao said the Republican Party has been working hard across all 19 districts since last year to get the word out and campaign for all Republican candidates up and down the ballot.
Guam’s political landscape does not exactly mirror its national counterpart, where voting decisions are influenced by the parties’ respective ideologies. For the most part, the voters’ party affiliation in Guam is based on family traditions, social contacts and business interests.
Unlike the U.S. political landscape, party alignment between the executive and legislative branches on Guam does not necessarily secure a rubber-stamp policy vote.
The incumbent two-term Democratic governor, Lou Leon Guerrero, is often at odds with the Democratic Party-controlled legislature. Speaker Therese Terlaje and Sen. Chris Barnett, also a Democrat, are two of the governor’s most vocal critics. Speculation is rife that Terlaje and Barnett are likely to form the Democratic Party’s gubernatorial ticket to challenge Lt. Gov. Josh Tenorio, whom Leon Guerrero seeks to be her heir apparent.
The Republican Party has its own peculiar dynamics. First-term Sen. Thomas Fisher has been at loggerheads with fellow Republican Sen. Telo Taitague. In July, he sued Taitague, demanding that she “produce public records of her text conversations with Attorney General Douglas Moylan, as referenced in her legislative testimony.”
Fisher has been endorsed by Democrats through the Facebook account “Dems for Tom,” prompting the Republican Party to issue a statement saying the first-term senator is not a registered Republican.
The election for the congressional seat is a tight race.
Guam’s incumbent delegate, Del. James Moylan, is the first Republican to have been elected to the post in 30 years.
Gumataotao said Moylan has had a significant freshman term as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
“His efforts to secure record funding in the National Defense Authorization Act and his newest role as a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee are commendable. Party members and Guam’s voters from Yigo to Malesso have been very pleased with his work to date and want to see him re-elected to Congress,” said Gumataotao.
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When asked how the upcoming U.S. elections will affect Guam, Orsini said the country’s next president will be key to ensuring that Guam’s efforts for more federal funding for defense, health care, and veterans benefits and services are supported.
She said Leon Guerrero had established a relationship with vice presidential candidate Gov. Tim Walz and that Tenorio met with Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House to talk about Guam’s aggressive efforts to expand broadband. “These connections will be beneficial for our people when Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are elected as president and vice president in November,” she said.
Gumataotao said winning a reelection fight for Moylan and securing a majority in the Guam legislature and the Mayors Council of Guam will be the start of Republican wins across America, including the U.S. Congress and the White House. “The victories will bring more support for Guam in the near future and access that can shore up collective plans to improve the quality of life for every man, woman and child in the U.S. territory,” he said.
This year’s elections also include the races for village mayors, as well as members of the Consolidated Commission on Utilities and the Guam Board of Education. As of March 25, 2024, there were 57,636 registered voters in Guam.
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