By Mar-Vic Cagurangan
Temperatures soared Tuesday as two congressional candidates exchanged cutting remarks ahead of Guam’s Aug. 3 primary elections.
Democratic hopeful Michael San Nicolas took a jab at James Moylan, accusing the incumbent Republican delegate of incompetence.
“Jim Moylan has got to go,” San Nicolas wrote in a statement posted on his Facebook page.
Moylan, who is seeking reelection, threw a counterpunch. “Just like during his tenure as Guam’s delegate to Congress, Michael San Nicolas enjoys making stories up.”
San Nicolas served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2019 to 2023, succeeding the longtime Democratic delegate, Madeleine Bordallo. Faced with an ethics investigation in Congress, San Nicolas didn’t seek reelection and instead ran an unsuccessful campaign for governor in 2022.
Moylan, meanwhile, cliched the congressional seat, becoming the first Republican to win the delegate race in 30 years.
The two have since cast off the political alliance they touted during the 2022 campaign.
Moylan fired the first salvo in April when he officially announced his reelection bid, noting that he “came in at a point where Guam’s image was tarnished in an ethics controversy.”
San Nicolas challenged his successor’s performance in office, alleging that “the only thing he managed to achieve was proof positive that he is grossly unfit to represent the people of Guam in the U.S. Congress.”
"First Jim Moylan loses our Compact impact funds that we have had for decades. Then he gives away billions in future military buildup funding by allowing amendments into the NDAA to redirect money away from Guam. Then he fails to secure Radiation Compensation for Guam when the Senate was finally willing to do so,” San Nicolas said.
“Then he fails to secure SSI for Guam when the Congress was moving to extend it to COFA migrants, and now he has allowed our basic right to vote in elections to be denied by failing to fight for our people when it matters most," he added.
San Nicolas also took Moylan to task for “a serious loss of rights for U.S. citizens born in U.S. territories” on the heels of the House’s passage of H.R. 8281,
The legislation, also known as “The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act," or SAVE, is intended to prevent noncitizens from voting and would require states to check their voter rolls for registered noncitizens.
Moylan explained that the SAVE Act “safeguards a process and does not
take away any right from a U.S. citizen residing in Guam from voting in a federal election.”
“While there will always be some challenges for residents anywhere in securing some form of identification, it would be no different than needing a passport for travel, a driver’s license to legally drive, or an I.D. for other purposes. The Guam Election Commission also requires a voter to show a form of I.D. when voting in a local election,” he added.
San Nicolas is vying for the Democratic Party’s nomination against Sen. Amanda Shelton and Ginger Cruz.
Moylan is running unopposed on the Republican side.
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