Juan Babauta

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Juan Babauta
Resident Representative of the Northern Mariana Islands
In office
January 8, 1990 – January 14, 2002
Preceded byFroilan Tenorio
Succeeded byPedro Agulto Tenorio
Personal details
Born
Juan Nekai Babauta

(1953-09-07) September 7, 1953 (age 70)
Tanapag, Mariana Islands, Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
Political partyIndependent (2014–present)
Other political
affiliations		Republican (before 2014)
Spouse(s)
Diana Chong
​
(div. 2002)​
[1]
Charlene Mendiola Tudela
​
​
(m. 2008)​
EducationEastern New Mexico University (BA, MA)
University of Cincinnati (MS)

Juan Nekai Babauta (born September 7, 1953) is a Northern Mariana Islander politician who served as the fifth

governor of the Northern Mariana Islands from January 14, 2002, to January 9, 2006.[2]

Biography

Early life and education

Juan Babauta was born in

dairy farm with a host family for three years.[2]
Babauta, who was student body president during his senior year and a member of the National Honors Society, graduated from Enosburg in 1972.

Babauta attended a summer session at

health planning and administration from the University of Cincinnati.[2]

Career

Babauta's interest in health planning began when he worked as a health planner for the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands from April to August 1977, based on Saipan.[2] He became the executive director for the Commonwealth Health Planning and Development Agency in May 1979 after completing his master's degree at the University of Cincinnati.[2] He remained executive director until January 1986.[2]

Babauta was elected to the

floor leader
from January 1986 to January 1988 and the chairman of the Fiscal Affairs committee from January 1986 until August 1987. Babauta also chaired the Committee on Health, Education and Welfare from January 1986 and January 1990 and the Committee on Rules and Procedure from January 1988 until he left office in January 1990. Babauta introduced The Education Act of 1988 as a Senator.

Resident Representative

In November 1989, Babauta was elected as the third

Resident Representative of the Northern Mariana Islands in Washington D.C. He took office in January 1990, succeeding Froilan Tenorio. He served as Resident Representative for three 4-year terms[2]
from January 1990 until leaving office in January 2002 to become governor.

Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands

In November 2001, Babauta was elected

Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands in the four-way gubernatorial election as a Republican. Babauta and his running mate, Diego Benavente, won the election with 5,512 votes, the largest number of votes ever received by a gubernatorial candidate in the Northern Mariana Islands at the time.[3] He defeated Covenant Party candidate Benigno Fitial, Democrat Jesus Borja and former Governor and then Reform Party candidate Froilan Tenorio, respectively.[3][4]
Babauta and Benavente were sworn into office on January 14, 2002.

Babauta was defeated for re-election in the

Speaker (2002-2004) Heinz Hofschneider. Babauta and Benavente eventually came in third place in the gubernatorial election, behind Covenant Party candidate Benigno Fitial
and Hofschneider, running as an independent, in an election that marked the worst defeat for the Republican Party in its history. [5] Benigno Fitial was elected Governor over independent Heinz Hofschneider by just 99 votes after fifteen days tallying absentee ballots, the closest gubernatorial election in Northern Mariana Islands history at the time.[5] Fitial won with 3809 votes (28.07%) while independent Hofschneider came in a close second with 3,710 votes (27.33%).[5] Babauta placed a disappointing third place with 3,610 votes, or 26.66%.[5] Froilan Tenorio came in fourth with 2442 votes (17.99%).[5] In a concession speech at his home, Babauta told supporters, "Nobody's to blame but me."[5] Babauta left office on January 9, 2006.[2]

Four years later, Babauta unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination in the

principal at Mount Carmel School.[6] Babauta was defeated in the Republican primary election on June 27, 2009, by Heinz Hofschneider.[7] Hofschneider received 3,382 votes in the primary election, while Babauta garnered 2,986 votes.[7] Babauta reiterated a unity pledge with Hofschneider after the primary[7]
and endorsed Hofschneider in his bid for the governorship.

Subsequent career

Babauta also worked as the publisher of Homeland Magazine from 2007 until 2009.

In April 2010, Babauta declared his candidacy for Northern Mariana Islands' Delegate to the

2010 United States House of Representatives election in the Northern Mariana Islands
on November 2, 2010. Sablan won re-election to a second term, while Babauta placed third in the race.

independent. He cited the refusal of the Republican party to hold a primary as his reasoning, along with the introduction of casino gambling. His running mate was former Senator Juan Sablan Torres.[9]

In 2018, Babauta again decided to run for governor as an independent, against Republican incumbent Ralph Torres. This time his running mate was former Education Commissioner Rita Aldan Sablan.[10] He lost against Torres by a 62.2% to 37.8% margin.

See also

References

  1. ^ De La Torre, Ferdie (November 11, 2014). "Babauta told to pay ex-wife $800 monthly". Saipan Tribune. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Northern Mariana Islands Governor Juan N. Babauta". National Governors Association. Archived from the original on January 9, 2011. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
  3. ^ a b Hernandez, Criselda B. (2005). "Politics: 4-Way Gubernatorial Election Heats Up". Islands Business. Archived from the original on February 23, 2012. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
  4. ^ "GOP IN LANDSLIDE CNMI VICTORY: BABAUTA GOVERNOR | Pacific Islands Report".
  5. ^ a b c d e f "Absentee Ballots Decide Who Is Governor, Winner has only a 99-vote lead". Islands Business. November 21, 2005. Archived from the original on March 8, 2012. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
  6. Marianas Variety News & Views. Archived from the original
    on July 14, 2011. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
  7. ^
    Marianas Variety News & Views. Archived from the original
    on July 14, 2011. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
  8. ^ Deposa, Moneth (April 29, 2010). "It's official: Babauta is GOP's bet for delegate". Saipan Tribune. Archived from the original on March 23, 2012. Retrieved April 30, 2010.
  9. ^ Eugenio, Haidee (April 8, 2014). "Independent bid for Babauta, Torres". Saipan Tribune. Archived from the original on April 8, 2014. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
  10. ^ Villahermosa, Cherrie (April 13, 2018). "Babauta teams up with Sablan". Marianas Variety. Archived from the original on November 3, 2018. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
Resident Representative of the Northern Mariana Islands

1990–2002 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Republican nominee for Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands
2001, 2005 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Democratic nominee for Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands
Endorsed
2018 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands
2002–2006 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Juan_Babauta&oldid=1220438901"