See also: 2022 United States gubernatorial elections.
| Election Name: | 2022 Northern Mariana Islands gubernatorial election |
| Country: | Northern Mariana Islands |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2018 Northern Mariana Islands gubernatorial election |
| Previous Year: | 2018 |
| Next Election: | 2026 Northern Mariana Islands gubernatorial election |
| Next Year: | 2026 |
| Election Date: | November 8, 2022 (first round) November 25, 2022 (runoff) |
| Nominee1: | Arnold Palacios |
| Party1: | Independent |
| Running Mate1: | David Apatang |
| Popular Vote1: | 7,394 |
| Percentage1: | 54.14% |
| Party2: | Republican Party (Northern Mariana Islands) |
| Popular Vote2: | 6,263 |
| Percentage2: | 45.86% |
| Map Size: | 200px |
| Governor | |
| Before Election: | Ralph Torres |
| Before Party: | Republican Party (Northern Mariana Islands) |
| After Election: | Arnold Palacios |
| After Party: | Independent |
The 2022 Northern Mariana gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of the Northern Mariana Islands and the lieutenant governor of the Northern Mariana Islands to a four-year term in office. Because no candidate received 50% of the vote in the general election, the two highest-placing candidates advanced to a runoff election on November 25, 2022.[1]
Incumbent Republican Governor Ralph Torres ran for re-election to a second full term in office with territorial senator Vinnie Sablan as his running mate.[2] Lieutenant Governor Arnold Palacios, a career Republican, also contested the seat, running as an independent with Saipan mayor David Apatang as his running mate.[3] Democratic nominee Tina Sablan, a member of the Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives, is the first woman to be nominated for Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands. She chose fellow territorial representative Leila Staffler as her running mate.[4]
In the general election, Torres came in first with 38.83% of the vote, followed by Palacios at 33.15% and Sablan at 28.01%. Because no candidate received more than 50% of the vote, a runoff between Torres and Palacios was held on November 25, 2022.[5] [6] [7] Sablan and Staffler endorsed Palacios in the runoff, and Palacios and Apatang signed a "unity pledge" with them promising action on several policy issues, including health care, labor, and infrastructure.[8] [9]
Palacios and Apatang won the runoff election with 54.14% of the vote to 45.86% for Torres and Sablan.[10] Palacios was the first independent elected governor of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the first independent to win a gubernatorial election in any U.S. state or territory since 2014.
Torres has been under investigation for misusing public funds since 2019. On January 12, 2022, the Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives voted to impeach Torres on charges of theft and corruption. A two-thirds majority vote in the Northern Mariana Islands Senate was required to remove the governor from office.[11] [12] The Senate acquitted Torres on May 18 in a 3–4 party-line vote with two senators absent. However, Torres still faced criminal charges brought against him by Attorney General Edward Manibusan.[13] His trial was set for July 5, 2022,[14] but was delayed several times and will not take place until after the November election.[15] Manibusan was reelected in the 2022 election.[5]
On October 22, 2021, Palacios and Apatang announced they were leaving the Republican Party and would run as an independent ticket.
|- style="background:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;"! colspan="2" rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | Party ! rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | Candidate! rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | Running mate! colspan="2" | First round! colspan="2" | Second round |- style="background:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;"! width="60" | Votes! width="30" | %! width="65" | Votes! width="30" | % |- | style="background: #D6D6D6" | | style="text-align:left;" | Independent | style="text-align:left;" | Arnold Indalecio Palacios | style="text-align:left;" | David Mundo Apatang | | % | | % |- | style="background:" | | style="text-align:left;" | Republican | style="text-align:left;" | Ralph Deleon Guerrero Torres (incumbent) | style="text-align:left;" | Vinson Flores "Vinnie" Sablan | | % | | % |- | style="background:" | | style="text-align:left;" | Democratic | style="text-align:left;" | Christina Marie Elise Sablan (Tina Sablan) | style="text-align:left;" | Leila Haveia Fleming Clark Staffler | | % |-! colspan="4" style="text-align:left;" | Total! ! 100%! ! 100% |-