With the CNMI staring at another painful budget year and potentially hundreds of government furloughs, gubernatorial candidates Lawrence F. Camacho, Ralph DLG Torres, and Blas Jonathan “BJ” T. Attao, sparred over the economy, government spending, education, labor, the U.S. military buildup, and the future of the casino industry.
The three candidates traded criticism and competing solutions during the Marianas Press 2026 gubernatorial debate last Tuesday evening, Aug. 18, at Pacific Islands Club Saipan’s Charley’s Cabaret, with some of the sharpest exchanges coming over the Commonwealth’s financial condition and who bears responsibility for it.
Camacho, an independent candidate and former Education commissioner; Attao, another independent candidate and longtime House representative; and Torres, the CNMI Republican Party candidate and former governor, each argued that he had the experience and prescription needed to turn the Commonwealth around.
The candidates were also challenged on public trust and government accountability. Torres pushed back against criticism of his record, describing himself as having faced unprecedented scrutiny.
“No governor has been more scrutinized than myself,” Torres said during a rebuttal, noting that the FBI had searched his office and home and asserting that the federal investigation resulted in no FBI charges against him.
Torres returned to the issue in his closing statement.
“I am the most scrutinized governor in CNMI history,” he said, adding that his office, bank account, and home had been searched. Torres again said the FBI brought no charges after a six-year investigation.
Asked what budget they would send to the Legislature if they were in office today—including what they would cut and protect—Camacho pointed to the grim fiscal choices already confronting the government.
He referenced two scenarios presented to lawmakers that could involve 200 to 400 furloughs or reduced work hours and said education, public safety, and health would have to remain priorities.
Attao said spending cuts should begin with the governor and lieutenant governor before filtering down through government.
“We will make cuts, first and foremost, from ourselves,” Attao said. “We want to start from us.”
He also proposed working with businesses, Northern Marianas Technical Institute, and Northern Marianas College to retrain government employees for private-sector jobs, including accounting and HVAC positions.
Torres said he would first protect Public School System funding and retirees before determining where other reductions would fall.
“I would take PSS budget, put it aside. That's not negotiable,” Torres said. “Take that PSS money out. Put money for the retirees. Then we deal with whatever we have to deal with.”
Torres blamed the current economic situation for renewed talk of furloughs, prompting Attao to challenge his record.
Attao alleged that when Torres faced revenue problems in 2019, his administration imposed a 13% across-the-board cut that included PSS and public safety. Torres disputed Attao’s characterization and challenged him to produce the report he was citing.
Camacho then turned the criticism on both candidates.
“I love the fact that you guys are jabbing at each other back and forth, but I'm going to respectfully jab at both of you,” Camacho said. “The question is, what the heck happened? Why are we in this situation?”
Camacho also questioned what became of the economic benefit from the Building Optimism, Opportunities, and Stability Together, or BOOST, program, which was implemented during the Torres administration.
“BOOST money, right? Why isn't that now trying to make our small businesses thrive?” Camacho said.
The BOOST program, which used federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to assist businesses and nonprofit organizations, subsequently came under scrutiny over its administration and spending. Torres was governor when the program was implemented, with applications recommended to him for final approval.
Attao saved another political jab for his closing statement. Recalling his grandmother’s advice to be like a sponge—to absorb knowledge and later share it—he pivoted to government spending.
“But that doesn't mean that you squeeze the Commonwealth out of its resources, its money, its people,” Attao said. “We shouldn't squander what previous generations have built for us on fraud, a boost, or Cheetos that cheat the people.”
Attao did not name Torres in that statement.
The candidates were also asked about the final order in Imperial Pacific International’s bankruptcy, which the debate question said lists about $40.9 million in combined claims for the Commonwealth Treasury and Commonwealth Casino Commission, with no guarantee the CNMI will recover the entire amount. They were asked how they would maximize the Commonwealth’s recovery and prevent another major investor from leaving millions of dollars in unpaid government claims.
Attao said future large investors should undergo stronger vetting and argued that the CNMI should put greater emphasis on small businesses.
“Little footprint, maximum economic activity,” Attao said.
Torres said the government should be willing to work with major investors when circumstances change while still requiring them to meet their obligations.
“But yes, at the end of the day, we want them to pay their dues,” Torres said.
Torres said IPI’s success had benefited the broader economy, including Commonwealth Utilities Corp. ratepayers and retirees, and that its collapse consequently hurt the Commonwealth.
Camacho said one of his first steps would be to speak with IPI’s new owner about its plans for the property.
“The first thing I'm going to do is track down and have a sit down with the new owner of IPI and figure out what the heck is going on with it and what their vision is,” Camacho said.
Camacho said the larger lesson was that the CNMI should avoid relying on what he called “artificial economic growth” and instead recruit sustainable specialized industries. He also questioned how the casino industry was introduced.
“I mean it was just brought in and then all of a sudden we wake up one day and we're owners of a casino industry which people did not vote [for],” Camacho said.
On the U.S. military buildup, the candidates were asked where their administrations would stand amid support and opposition to the expanding military presence in the Northern Marianas.
Attao said the buildup is already happening and argued that military contractors should register locally and pay CNMI taxes, while military spending should benefit local health care, ports, and other infrastructure.
“We're not going to beg for it. We're not going to ask for it. We're going to demand equal opportunity for our people here in the CNMI,” Attao said.
Torres cited negotiations during his administration over military activities and said the CNMI must protect its interests and environment while maintaining its defense relationship with the federal government.
“They need to own up on making sure they're part of the community,” Torres said. “I will demand for them to make investments.”
Camacho, a retired military officer, said the Commonwealth should use its strategic importance as leverage in negotiations with Washington, D.C., including seeking improvements to ports and other infrastructure.
“Gone are going to be the days where we just sit around and we accept what they tell us,” Camacho said. “The days are coming when we tell them what we need from them and we're going to demand it.”
Management of the Northern Marianas' natural resources also emerged as an economic issue, with the candidates asked how they would protect the environment and cultural heritage while allowing responsible development.
Attao said he was open to economic opportunities provided the territory's natural environment was protected.
"So long that our environment's protected—our ocean, our land, and our air—we will explore any and all type of opportunities here in the CNMI," he said.
Attao also called for historical sites to be protected, cleaned up, and promoted as part of the Northern Marianas' tourism product.
Camacho linked conservation more directly to the islands' inheritance and tourism potential, describing land and natural resources as assets passed down by previous generations.
"The greatest gift ever by our ancestors really is the land, right? And the natural resources that it provides," Camacho said.
The candidates were also asked how they would strengthen local schools and the Northern Marianas College, expand skilled-trades opportunities, and ensure training leads to jobs paying livable wages.
Camacho called for tighter coordination among PSS, NMC, Northern Marianas Technical Institute, the Department of Labor, and private employers so training programs match actual workforce demand. He warned that the CNMI could face a serious labor shortage after 2030 without enough trained workers.
Attao advocated partnerships between businesses and NMC, including scholarship arrangements tied to employment commitments after graduation.
Torres proposed directing more scholarship resources toward NMC and investing in NMC and NMTech while expanding the economy to create jobs for graduates.
“None of these matters if we don't have an economy,” Torres said.
On the broader workforce issue, Attao proposed retraining government employees for private-sector positions, while Camacho pushed for closer alignment among education, training, Labor, and businesses. Torres repeatedly tied workforce development to rebuilding the economy and creating enough private-sector demand for locally trained workers.
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