We recently published a five-part series, where Kandit brought to you biographical information on five democrats rumored to be contenders for the party’s nomination for governor of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Today we bring you an encore: This bio on Rep. Vicente Camacho, who we believe is a dark horse candidate in the race. According to Democratic Party of the NMI chairwoman Nola Hix, as of the evening of Saturday, October 23, three qualified voters of the CNMI have submitted letters of intent to seek the party’s nomination for governor. Ms. Hix said November 1, 2021 is the deadline for interested candidates to submit their letters of interest to her in order to be considered to be the party’s nominee for governor in next year’s election. The party will announce its nominee by November 4.
We call him the ‘Bruce Lee’ of the Commonwealth Legislature among the staff here at Kandit News. Every time he asks a witness a question in the ongoing corruption investigation into Gov. Ralph Torres, it seems as though freshman Rep. Vicente Camacho is about to karate chop his way to the truth of the matter. As I was preparing to write this short political biography I learned we weren’t too far off with the metaphor. The legislature’s Bruce Lee is a 5th Dan Black Belt in Taekwondo.
The plain spoken Camacho, we believe, is a dark horse candidate for the democratic nomination for governor of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. His presence is gubernatorial. And while his local government experience is relegated to a cabinet post helping veterans in the Fitial administration, his leadership experience is extensive.
Mr. Camacho enlisted in the US Army in May of 1983 at the age of 22. He spent most of his adult life off island while on active duty until his return in July 2011. He is a US Army Sergeant First Class (SFC) retiree with 24 years of honorable active duty service. His Military Occupational Specialty is Administration and is a paratrooper. He retired from the Army in 2007 from his last military duty assignment with the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense (OUSD), Special Operations Low-intensity Conflict (SOLIC)at the Pentagon as the Administrative Supervisor/Security Manager. His duty assignments were at the Pentagon, Washington D.C.; Headquarters, United States European Command, Office of the Chief of Staff, Stuttgart, Germany; Headquarters, Republic of Korea/United States Army, Soul South Korea; Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 82d Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
His military leadership training perhaps explains the no-nonsense approach he has taken as a member of the CNMI House Judiciary and Governmental Operations Committee corruption investigating into Torres, where he has demanded honest answers from witnesses.
