Benigno Fitial - Governorship

Governorship

Fitial is the seventh governor of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). He defeated independent candidate Heinz Hofschneider and incumbent Republican Governor Juan N. Babauta during the 2005 gubarnatorial election with 28.1 percent of the total vote after absentee ballots were counted. The 2005 gubernatorial election margin of victory was the closest in the history of the Commonwealth. Fitial and his running mate, Lieutenant Governor Timothy P. Villagomez were sworn into office on January 9, 2006.

Fitial has faced many challenges during his term as governor, including budget shortfalls, a weak economy even before the Financial crisis of 2007–2010, and declining Japanese tourism. He implemented a dress code of business attire for all cabinet members shortly after his inauguration.

Some observers and prominent publications (such as the Marianas Variety) have accused Fitial of concentrating power in his office. This includes a decision made to abolish the autonomy of at least two government agencies, with their functions being transferred to the executive. The governor and his supporters have asserted that drastic measures need to be taken to cut excessive government spending during the tenure of the previous governor, Juan Babauta.

Fitial was away from office for several weeks in late 2006 when he underwent successful surgery at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles on October 31 to correct spinal stenosis.

Lieutenant Governor Timothy Villagomez resigned from office on April 24, 2009, following his conviction on federal criminal charges related to fraud while he was a member of the CMNI House of Representatives. Villagomez became the highest ranking CMNI official ever to be convicted in a criminal trial. Under the Northern Mariana Islands Commonwealth Constitution, when a Lieutenant Governor vacancy occurs, the governor appoints a successor with the "advice and consent" of the Northern Mariana Islands Senate.

Governor Fitial nominated the CNMI Secretary of Finance Eloy Inos to fill the Lieutenant Governor vacancy on April 27, 2009. Fitial and Inos had first met years earlier while both were working for the government of the now defunct Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. Fitial was working as a budget analyst, while Inos was employed as a tax manager for the Trust Territory's revenue division at the time.

Inos was unanimously confirmed in a vote by all 29 members of the Senate on Friday, May 1, 2009. Inos was sworn into office by Governor Fitial shortly after the Senate vote, becoming the Northern Mariana Islands first unelected Lieutenant Governor.

A minority bloc in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands' House of Representatives filed an impeachment resolution August 28, 2012 against Governor Fitial, who was at that time in the United States for the Republican National Convention. The resolution was filed by Joseph Deleon Guerrero, a former Republican who has left the party and is now an independent. It accuses the governor of "multiple felonies, multiple acts of public corruption" and of neglecting official duties.