Froilan Tenorio facts for kids

Froilan Cruz "Lang" Tenorio (September 9, 1939 – May 4, 2020) was a Northern Mariana Islander politician who was the fourth governor of the Northern Mariana Islands. Elected in 1993, he served one term from January 10, 1994 to January 12, 1998. During his governorship and most of his political career, Tenorio was a member of the Democratic Party of the Northern Mariana Islands, which was not then affiliated with the American Democratic Party. However, he later switched his affiliation to the Covenant Party. As of 2021, he is the last Democrat to serve as governor of the territory.

Background

Education

Tenorio graduated from the Territorial College of Guam in 1962 with an associate's degree before earning a bachelor's degree in civil engineering at Marquette University in 1967.

Early career

Tenorio was subsequently employed by the Los Angeles, California department of public works. In 1972 he was hired by the Micronesian Construction Company. He founded his own construction company two years later.

Tenorio's early career in elective office consisted of one term as a CNMI Senator and three two-year terms as Washington representative. He first ran for governor in 1989. In 1993 he ran again and won.

Governorship

Policies

Tenorio governed as a fiscal conservative in several ways. He warned the legislature against increasing spending without accompanying measures to increase revenue. However, the legislature implemented an earned income credit which was repealed after Tenorio left office because there were not enough funds to pay for it.

Tenorio frequently battled with the Republican-dominated legislature during his term. His first executive order was a sweeping reorganization of the commonwealth government that was contested by both litigation and by the legislature. It was eventually put into effect. The Republican legislature also frequently rejected Tenorio's appointments; Alexandro C. Castro, who was twice Tenorio's Supreme Court nominee, was twice rejected by the legislature. He was later appointed successfully to that court by Tenorio's successor, Pedro P. Tenorio, a Republican.

As Governor, Tenorio was a fierce opponent of federal legislation that would have extended federal minimum wage and immigration laws to the CNMI, which at that time was exempt from those laws. The predominant industry in the CNMI (outside of tourism) was the garment manufacturing industry, which drew chiefly upon female foreign workers, generally from China. These workers were generally paid far less than the minimum wage in the United States and were brought in extensively through the CNMI's immigration system, which differed from that of the United States. Federal legislation signed nearly a decade after Tenorio left office altered the minimum wage regulations and immigration system of the CNMI.

DeLay and Tenorio shared strong ties to lobbyist Jack Abramoff, and both would become infamous in the Jack Abramoff CNMI scandal.

Defeat for re-election

In 1997, Tenorio ran for re-election in a three-way race. Ultimately, the nominee of the Republican Party, former governor Pedro P. Tenorio, won the election easily with 45.6% of the vote. Democratic support was split between Governor Tenorio and his Lieutenant Governor, Jesus C. Borja. Tenorio received 27.4% of the vote and Borja received 27%. Tenorio left office in early 1998.

Later career

After he lost his bid for re-election, Tenorio repeatedly attempted to return to the governor's office. In 2001, he ran in a four-way race against Borja (running as a Democrat this time), Republican Juan N. Babauta, and Benigno R. Fitial, who was running as the candidate of the new Covenant Party. Rather than running as a Democrat as he had in the past, Tenorio ran as the candidate of the Reform Party, which he had founded in 1999. Tenorio was soundly defeated, and Babauta was elected governor.

In 2005, Tenorio again entered the gubernatorial race, returning to the Democratic Party. After receiving the Democratic nomination, Tenorio finished fourth in a four-way contest, with approximately 18% of the vote. Fitial defeated Heinz S. Hofschneider and Babauta by a very small margin.

In May 2009, Tenorio announced that he had joined the Covenant Party and was allied with Governor Fitial. Rather than seeking the gubernatorial post again, Tenorio ran for a seat in the Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives, hoping to represent Precinct 1. Tenorio ran on a platform of increased government investment in tourism, reform of the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation, and economic growth through job creation and increased purchasing power for residents, favoring job creation through new construction projects. He later said in an interview that if elected he would seek to restore the earned income credit, an anti-poverty program implemented by his administration in the 1990s, to increase employment and purchasing power. Tenorio won the election and was subsequently selected for the post of Speaker of the House from 2010–2013, a unique three-year term caused by the 2009 and 2012 change in local elections from odd to even years, N.M.I. Const. art. VIII, § 1, but resigned after one year.

See also

• List of Asian Americans and Pacific Islands Americans in the United States Congress