Proud

On Election Day 1543 wonderful people cast their vote for me. I came in ahead of 6 other well-respected, popular candidates. Unfortunately, I needed to come in ahead of 8.

Thank you to everyone who helped me during the campaign and congratulations to all the candidates.

The Polls Are Closed

The last few months have been quite a ride and I was lucky to have been chosen by the Democratic Part to represent them as their nominee for Mayor. I have been blessed with a wonderful family and great friends who have helped me during this process.

Whatever the outcome, I am proud of the campaign my team ran. We focused on issues and experience and the campaign for mayor never devolved into a mud slinging contest.

We'll know the results of our efforts in a few hours.

From Saipan Writer

I've hardly surfed the net this week because I've been going door to door and meeting with people. The Saipan Writer wrote this about me on Monday:

VILLAGOMEZ, Angelo O’Connor (Democrat). Intelligent, educated, and dedicated to environmental concerns. He's got loads of energy and vision. He's done a lot to organize people and protect our environment. This would be a big YES in my book.

Thank you, Saipan Writer!

Almost Over

The polls are open for another 40 minutes and the news reports about the results are starting to roll out. The Saipan Tribune has a story up about the early morning voters.

Polling places open; 3 of 4 governors lead voting in Garapan
By Haidee V. Eugenio

Hundreds were already in line as polling places opened at 7am in today's historic CNMI elections, with three of the four gubernatorial candidates casting their votes at Precinct 3's Garapan Elementary School between 7:10am and 9:10am and the fourth one expected to vote shortly before the close of polls at 7pm.

[snip]

Also early in line was Angelo Villagomez, who is running for Saipan's mayoral post.

Villagomez said the first time (sic) he will do if he wins is to hug his mother, who was with him at the voting place even before the polls opened at 7am.

2009 CNMI Election Results

There will be live coverage of the 2009 CNMI Election Results on Magic 100.3 and on KSPN 2. You can listen to Magic online, but have to be on Saipan to watch KSPN's live coverage. The Commonwealth Election Commission will also put the results online, but it might not be up right away.

Today is the Day

Today is Election Day.

I was standing in line at Garapan Elementary School at 7 AM and cast my ballot.

If you haven't done so already, please head to your polling location and vote.

KSPN 2 will begin live coverage of the election results at 9 PM tonight. I hope to know the results before I go to sleep.

Voter Outreach

I really enjoy going door to door. Yes, it's hot. Yes, I get tired with all that walking. But getting into people's villages and talking to them one on one about their concerns is a great experience. It should be mandatory for anyone working for a government agency so that they can get a better understanding of the people they are supposed to serve.

I've had several family members and supporters helping out over the last few days and they've all remarked on how going door to door has opened their eyes to a lot they didn't know about on Saipan. They'd never visited so many people's houses in their lives.

When I was a canvasser in Florida in 2004 my team would all come back to the office and trade stories from the day's door to door. I don't want to do that on this blog because I wouldn't want to embarrass anyone, but.....I'd better stop there.

Overall going door to door is a very positive experience. I think most people are appreciative of the candidates making the effort to come to their home.

We are going to continue our door to door efforts in Kagman tomorrow. If you'd like to help out, if even for only a few hours, your help would be greatly appreciated.

For weeks now I've been asking my supporters to contact 20 people they know who vote on Saipan and to ask them to vote Angelo for Mayor. If you haven't done so yet and would like my final campaign flyer, send me an email and I'll forward it to you. It is a double sided single sheet with English on one side and Chamorro on the other.

As of this writing the election is 33 hours away...