The series begins today on page 2 and will run for the next two weeks leading up to the primary election on Saturday, Sept.1.
The order of the candidates is drawn from the random selection process conducted by the Guam Election Commission to determine their placing on the ballot.
Two Democratic incumbents lead it off, Speaker Judi Won Pat and Sen. Ben Pangelinan. Joining them today are Republican candidates Antonio Aquiningoc and Javier Atalig. Each will respond to three questions:
- Do you think the Guam Legislature needs reform? If so, how? If not, why?
- What do you think the Legislature is not focusing on that it should?
- If elected, what will you do to enhance revenue to – and reduce costs incurred by – the government of Guam?
The first is the part-time legislature question. Some candidates are running on that as a key to their platform. This question enables both incumbents and newcomers to craft a thoughtful reply on the issue.
We hear a lot of comment along the lines of “Why doesn’t the Legislature do this?” or “Why are they wasting time on that?” Here we ask the candidates to tell us what their priority will be.
Finally, we’re looking for specific ideas for reducing the cost of GovGuam, or increasing revenue to enable us to get out of a deficit position.
The questions were developed by our editorial board and were submitted to all the senatorial candidates last week. We anticipate all of them participating in this year’s Focus on the Candidates, affording them a significant exposure in our pages at no advertising cost.
On Thursday, Aug. 30, we will feature all four candidates for the Washington delegate position, incumbent Madeleine Bordallo, Democratic challenger Karlo Dizon, Republican candidate Frank Blas Jr., and Independent candidate Jonathan Diaz with a different set of questions.
We here at Marianas Variety-Guam are excited about this year’s election and the opportunity for our readers to get to know all the candidates through our pages. To everyone seeking public office in 2012, good luck and thanks for being part of this election process.
