Guamanian general election, 2004

Guam
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Guam

General elections were held in Guam on November 2, 2004 in order to elect all 15 members of the legislature, the federal delegate, mayors of 14 cities, vice mayors of three cities, the public auditor, the Consolidated Commission on Utilities, two judges of the Superior Court, running for retention and the Guam Public Education Policy Board. Voters also voted on the President of the United States although the territory sent no representatives to the electoral college. There was also a referendum on allowing gambling, which was rejected by voters.[1]

Background

In the United States territory of Guam, elections to the Legislature and multi-member boards are run via open primary (This following the outlawing of the previous blanket primary similar to Louisiana).[2]

Both the Public Auditor and Consolidated Commission on Utilities are required to be nonpartisan and as such candidates are not allowed to state affiliations or list them on the ballot.[3][4]

In the case of the Auditor, affiliating with a party is grounds for disqualification.[4]

Campaign

A total of 30 candidates ran for 15 seats in the Legislature, with both the Democratic and Republican parties nominating a full slate.

The Guam Bar Association conducted an internal survey to determine feelings towards the two judges running for retention. Both were given strong marks of approval by the less than 100 members.[5]

During the run-up, "Proposition A", the gaming/gambling legalization measure received significant coverage. A group called "Citizens for Economic Diversity" proposed it.

Legislative candidates

Guamanian legislative election, 2004
Guam
November 2, 2004
All 15 seats of the Legislature of Guam

  Majority party Minority party
 
Leader Mark Forbes Ben Pangelinan (defeated)
Party Republican Democratic
Leader's seat At-large district At-large district
Last election 6 seats 9 seats
Seats won 9 6
Speaker before election

Ben Pangelinan
Democratic

 Elected Speaker

Mark Forbes
Republican

Democratic candidates

Republican candidates

Declined

Results

President of the USA

Despite not having any electoral votes, Guam approved of George W. Bush by 64% over John Kerry. Ralph Nader and Steve Badnarik both received less than one percent.

Candidate Party Votes %
George W. BushRepublican Party21,49064.08
John KerryDemocratic Party11,78135.13
Ralph NaderIndependent1960.58
Steve BadnarikIndependent670.2
Total33,534100
Source: Guam election

Delegate

Candidate Party Votes %
Madeleine BordalloDemocratic Party31,05197.38
Write-ins8372.62
Total31,888100
Source: Guam election

Legislature

In the election to the legislature, the top fifteen vote-getters are elected, and the remaining candidates aren't. A recount was held due to the closeness of the vote counts of the critical 15th/16th candidates. As a result, Joanne Brown (Republican), an incumbent, pushed then Speaker Ben Pangelinan into 16th place with a two-vote lead.[6]

Party Votes % Seats
Republican Party228,17751.829
Democratic Party211,90448.136
Write-ins2320.05–
Total440,31310015
Source: Guam election

Auditor

Candidate Votes %
Doris Flores Brooks30,62798.80
Write-ins3711.20
Total30,998100
Source: Guam election

Utilities Commission

Candidate Votes %
Thomas Ada24,83946.84
Gloria Nelson13,22724.94
Eloy Hara8,14615.36
Jesus Lizama6,57712.40
Write-ins2390.45
Total53,028100
Source: Guam election

Judicial retention

Both judges standing for retention kept their seats by large majorities.

Education board

Elections for the Guam Education Policy Board suffered for a shortage of candidates: Only in the district of Luchan were there more running then returned (4, including write-in, for two seats). In the other two 2 seat districts, the second had to be filled by write-in, and in the 3 seat Lagu district, NO candidates were on the ballot, resulting in a 100% write-in return.

Mayors

Ten Republican mayors were elected against four Democratic mayors and all three vice mayors. The vice mayor of Barrigada, June Blas was elected without opposition.

Referendum

Shall proposal A, an initiative to establish the Guam Casino Gaming Control Commission Act be adopted by the voters of Guam?[1]
Choice Votes %
For13,31138.54
Against21,22361.46
Invalid/blank votes –
Total34,534100
Registered voters/turnout54,940
Source: Direct Democracy

References

  1. 1 2 Guam (USA), 2 November 2004: Allowing of gambling Direct Democracy (in German)
  2. ↑ Richard Winger. "Ballot Access News July 1, 2004". Retrieved December 3, 2006.
  3. ↑ "Public Law No. 26-76". Retrieved December 3, 2006.
  4. 1 2 "Office of The Public Auditor - Guam - Enabling Legislation". Retrieved December 3, 2006.
  5. ↑ Zita Taintano. "Guam Bar Association surveys members about judicial retention". KUAM-TV. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved December 3, 2006.
  6. ↑ "GEC completes recount: Brown beats Pangelinan by 2 votes for 15th seat". Archived from the original on November 14, 2006. Retrieved December 3, 2006.
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