Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives
| Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Type: | State house |
| Term limits: | None |
| Leadership | |
| House Speaker: | Edmund S. Villagomez |
| Structure | |
| Members: | 20 |
| Length of term: | 2 years (House) |
| Salary: | $32,000/year |
| Elections | |
Meeting place: | |
The Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives is the lower house of the Northern Mariana Islands Commonwealth Legislature. There are 20 members: 18 elected from Saipan and the islands north of it, one from Rota, and one from Tinian and Aguiguan.[1] Each member represents an average of 2,366 residents as of the 2020 Census.[2] Representatives serve two-year terms and are not subject to term limits.[3]
Party control
Current partisan control
The table below shows the partisan breakdown of the Northern Mariana Islands Senate as of March 2025:
| Party | As of March 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 2 | |
| Republican Party | 2 | |
| Other | 16 | |
| Vacancies | 0 | |
| Total | 20 | |
Members
Leadership and members
| Leadership of the 23rd Commonwealth Legislature | ||
|---|---|---|
| Office | Representative | Party |
| Speaker of the House | Edmund S. Villagomez | Independent |
Salaries
As of 2023, members of the Northern Mariana Islands Commonwealth Legislature received an annual salary of $32,000.[4]
When sworn in
The Northern Mariana Islands' legislators assume office on the second Monday of January following a regularly-scheduled general election.[5]
Qualifications
Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands states that a representative shall:
- be qualified to vote in the Commonwealth;
- be at least 21 years of age; and
- a resident and domiciliary of the Commonwealth for at least three years immediately preceding the date on which the senator takes office.[6]
Elections
Elections by year
Northern Mariana Islands representatives serve two-year terms, with all seats up for election every two years. Northern Mariana Islands holds elections for its legislature every two years in even-numbered years.
2026
Elections for the Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives will take place in 2026. The general election is on November 3, 2026.
2024
Elections for the office of Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives took place in 2024. The general election was held on November 5, 2024. The filing deadline was August 7, 2024.
2022
Elections for the office of Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives took place in 2022. The general election was held on November 8, 2022.
After the 2022 elections, Democrats lost their majority in the chamber and independents gained a majority.
| Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 8, 2022 | After November 9, 2022 | |
| Democratic Party | 9 | 4 | |
| Republican Party | 8 | 6 | |
| Independent | 3 | 10 | |
| Total | 20 | 20 | |
2021
A special election for Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives District 3 was called for October 16, 2021. The candidate filing deadline was September 3, 2021.[7]
The seat became vacant after Ivan A. Blanco (R) died while in office on July 23, 2021.[7]
General election
Special general election for Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives District 3
Corina Magofna defeated Grace Sablan Vaiagae in the special general election for Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives District 3 on October 16, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Corina Magofna (D) | 60.1 | 1,217 | |
| Grace Sablan Vaiagae (R) | 39.9 | 808 | ||
| Total votes: 2,025 | ||||
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2020
Elections for the office of Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives took place in 2020. The general election was held on November 3, 2020. The filing deadline was August 5, 2020.
In the November 2020 elections, the Republican majority in the Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives decreased from 13-3-3 with one vacancy, to 9-8-3 with no vacancies.
| Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 3, 2020 | After November 4, 2020 | |
| Democratic Party | 3[8] | 8 | |
| Republican Party | 13 | 9 | |
| Independent | 3 | 3 | |
| Vacancy | 1[9] | 0 | |
| Total | 20 | 20 | |
Vacancies
If there is a vacancy in the House, a special election will be held if more than half of the term remains. Otherwise, the governor appoints the candidate who lost the previous election that received the greatest number of votes and is willing to serve. If no candidate is willing to serve, the governor instead appoints a person qualified for office from the district with the vacancy.[10]
Sessions
Section 13 of Article II of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands contains provisions relating to the timing and length of sessions. The legislature convenes on the second Monday of January following a regularly scheduled general election. Each house can meet for no more than 90 calendar days per year: 60 days before April 1 and 30 days after July 31.
The governor or presiding officer may call the legislature into special session for no more than ten consecutive days. The legislature may consider only subjects chosen by the governor or presiding officer in the call for a special session.[11]
See also
- U.S. Territories
- Legislatures of United States territories
- Northern Mariana Islands Commonwealth Legislature
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Northern Mariana Islands Commonwealth Legislature
- Commonwealth Constitution
- Commonwealth Code
Footnotes
- ↑ cnmilaw.org, "Commonwealth Code," accessed August 8, 2023(Code 1503)
- ↑ U.S. Census Bureau, "Population of the Northern Mariana Islands: 2010 and 2020," accessed August 7, 2023
- ↑ Cnmilaw.org, "Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands," accessed August 8, 2023(Article II Section 3-a)
- ↑ Cnmilaw.org, "Commonwealth Code," accessed August 8, 2023 (Code 1271)
- ↑ Cnmilaw.org, "Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands," accessed August 8, 2023(Article II Section 13)
- ↑ Cnmilaw.org, "Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands," accessed August 8, 2023(Article II Section 3-c)
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Commonwealth Election Commission, "Proclamation - Special Election for the Third Election District (Precint 3)," August 19, 2021
- ↑ Saipan Tribune, "Four lawmakers declare as Democrats; one aligns with bloc," June 17, 2020
- ↑ RNZ, "Resigned lawmaker to return to CNMI legislature," November 29, 2020
- ↑ Cnmilaw.org, "Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands," accessed August 8, 2023(Article II Section 9)
- ↑ Cnmilaw.org, "Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands," accessed August 8, 2023(Article II Section 13)
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