Attack ad rips open scabbing divisions within Democrat ranks

Not to be outdone by last week’s divisive Republican infighting stemming from the rift between Telo Taitague and Tom Fisher, a commercial has surfaced pitting one Democrat senator against another. But whether the ad, which uses a floor speech by Chris Barnett to target and assault Dwayne San Nicolas’ character, came from within the Democratic Party or is an effort by Republicans to drive wedges further ahead of the tight race for control of the legislature, might never be known.

It is an attack ad, an advertisement bearing no authorship that is made and used to attack one or more political candidates.

The ad, the type of which often is called a “black ad” due to its personal and authorless nature, starts with bold words on a black screen, “These senators voted to cut funding to your children (sic) education by $47 million dollars. (sic) In the FY2025 budget.”

The statement refers to the legislature’s August 30 decision to pass the government of Guam’s Fiscal Year 2025 budget that includes appropriations to the Guam Department of Education that are $47 million less than what GDOE requested. The criticism also mirrors lamentations education committee chairman Barnett made during remarks following the passage of the bill. A razor-thin majority of eight senators including San Nicolas, Amanda Shelton, Will Parkinson, Roy Quinata, Tina Muna Barnes, Tom Fisher, Jesse Lujan, and Joe San Agustin sent the spending bill to Lou Leon Guerrero for her consideration. The new fiscal year begins on October 1, 2024.

The words on the black screen of the ad then change to say, “They also cut funding for our family members suffering from cancer by 2 million dollars.”

That also mirrors Mr. Barnett’s floor criticism of the bill and Ms. Taitague’s complaint during that portion of the budget session. The issue involves the legislature’s decision to appropriate to the Guam Cancer Trust $1 million instead of the $3 million senators typically appropriate to the trust.

Senators passed a $1.3 billion spending bill, about $100 million more than the current fiscal year’s authorizations on top of an estimated $27 million in surplus revenue GovGuam is anticipated to rake in by September 30.

The black ad then features filtered footage of the floor remarks by senators, targeting Mr. San Nicolas and repeatedly showing him stating, “It’s a wonderful day for us all,” then cutting to a portion of his remarks where he says, “just amazing.” The context of Mr. San Nicolas’ remarks concerned his elation that senators accepted his rider to the budget directing the authorization of a lease between the Chamorro Land Trust Commission and the Guam Motorsports Association to resurrect the closed-down race track in Yigo. The ad, however, makes it appear as though Mr. San Nicolas was celebrating cuts to education and cancer funding.

The ad’s protagonist is Mr. Barnett. It features Mr. Barnett in his floor remarks saying, “We voted on a budget bill today. Contrary to what many believe, this is not a bill on the racetrack. This was a bill that gave the Guam Department of Education $47 million less than what they asked for.”

“Just amazing,” the ad cuts to Mr. San Nicolas saying, which is an out-of-context match up of floor remarks.

“However,” Mr. Barnett continues in the ad, “with this budget process, that opportunity, which is absolutely germane to the budget process was taken from us because a majority of colleagues felt it wasn’t important to give the Department of Education the money they need to fix the schools…”

“Just amazing,” the ad has Mr. San Nicolas repeating, again out of context.

“…to give the Department of Education the money they need to hire security guards,” Mr. Barnett continues in the ad, “so that Finegayan and Wettengel don’t get broken into every other night. We also killed the opportunity to fund the Guam Police Department to pay for police presence at our schools. Yet, we’re in here clapping. As very critical areas of our government, yes, the racetrack will open. But Guam Memorial Hospital, the Guam Department of Education, the Guam Police Department, we shorted the cancer patients $2 million!”

“It’s a wonderful day for us all,” the ad cuts away to repeat Mr. San Nicolas’ line referring to the passage of his racetrack rider.

“But we want to celebrate today,” Mr. Barnett mocks the behavior of the majority who had passed the bill.

The ad then ends with a black screen featuring the names of seven of the eight senators who voted to pass the budget bill, then a montage of the pictures of those seven senators. The senator missing from both the list and the montage is Ms. Shelton.

 

Reaction from Democrats

“When you’re at your best, evil comes for you,” Mr. San Nicolas said in reply to Kandit’s request for his reaction to the black ad.

Mr. Barnett has not replied to Kandit’s Sunday questions asking whether the video came from him or his campaign, and for his comment on what this circulating video might mean for Democratic unity and the effort to retain the majority in the legislature.

Kandit again this morning asked Mr. Barnett if we could at least provide our readers his denial that he had anything to do with the ad. He has not responded as of the publication of this story.

Democratic Party of Guam chairman Tony Babauta, however, condemned the ad and reinforced his party’s campaign to keep control of the legislature.

“Political ads without attribution are illegal and have no legitimate place; but will unfortunately find their way into social media platforms,” Mr. Babauta said. “We do not endorse them nor encourage them.”

Mr. Babauta’s claim of illegal activity stems from §8504 of Article 5, Title 3 Guam Code Annotated, which states:

“Every person shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000) per each separately produced message who intentionally writes, prints, posts or distributes, or causes to be written, printed, posted or distributed, any circular, pamphlet, letter or poster which is designed or intended to injure or defeat any candidate for nomination or election to any public office by reflecting upon his personal character or political actions, unless there appears upon the circular, pamphlet, letter or poster, in a conspicuous place, either: (a) the names of the chairman and secretary, or the names of two (2) officers of the political party or any other organization issuing it; or (b) the name and residence, with the street and number thereof if any, of the person responsible therefore.”

The black ad against Mr. San Nicolas does not contain any claim of ownership.

“Our Party has incumbents and candidates who have opinions on issues and that’s their record of what they have championed or what they want to prioritize if elected into office,” Mr. Babauta continued. We all understand spirited debate and discourse but not at the expense of dignity and respect. The Democratic Party is committed to putting democrats into elected office and our members will work to that end this election, as we do every cycle.”

Mr. Barnett and fellow Democrats Therese Terlaje and Sabina Perez often have been at odds with the other six Democrats who typically align with Democrat Governor Leon Guerrero. Spirited and sometimes personal debate on the session floor has erupted between Mr. Barnett, Mr. San Nicolas, and Mr. Parkinson over the past two years.

The public split among the Democrat senators started on the first day of the 37th Guam Legislature in January 2023, when a non-customary election contest between Ms. Terlaje and Mr. San Agustin resulted in a stalemate, with neither candidate receiving the eight votes necessary. Visiting legislators from the CNMI who had attended the inaugural election called the spectacle embarrassing.

Ms. Terlaje ended up becoming speaker and Mr. Barnett took control of the coveted Rules Committee following their coalition – along with Ms. Perez – with the six Republican minority members. That coalition no longer exists. The Democrats’ internal division has remained apparent. And so has infighting among the Republican minority members.

A recent poll by Ron McNinch of the University of Guam taken in mid-August shows a tight race for party control of the 38th Guam Legislature. Mr. San Nicolas appears in the poll’s bubble, which is the ranked range of polled candidates who are near the bottom of the top 15, suggesting to detractors of a Democrat majority that failure to reelect him could lead to the Democrats losing the majority come the January inauguration of the 38th Guam Legislature.

The general election will be held in precinct locations throughout the island on Tuesday, November 5, 2024.