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08/01/2025 - Tinian Sen. Karl R. King-Nabors was elected Senate president of the 24th Northern Marianas Legislature last July 31 at the Jesus P. Mafnas Memorial Building on Capitol Hill.
“I would just like to take a little bit of time, if I may, to say thank you first and foremost to all of my colleagues, and for your confidence and trust in me to fulfill the mandate of Senate presidency and to keep moving our agendas forward. I am sincerely eager to work with the administration and the House [of Representatives] to keep progress moving,” he said during the Senate’s fifth special session.
Aside from King-Nabors, also elected in absentia to a new post s Saipan Sen. Corina L. Magofna as Senate vice president. Rota Sen. Donald M. Manglona and Tinian Sen. Francisco Q. Cruz remained as Senate floor leader and Senate secretary, respectively.
In an interview after the Senate session, King-Nabors said being Senate president is something he never really contemplated.
“I'm just humbled. I'm overwhelmed by the support of the leadership, and I'm ready to do business...There are a lot of things before us, and we really need to get to work because time is not on our side, but as it relates to today, I just want to extend my sincerest gratitude and thanks to all of you guys for the confidence.”
King-Nabors also assured the new administration of Gov. David M. Apatang and Lt. Gov. Dennis C. Mendiola that the Senate is ready to work with the Executive Branch.
“We have to work in concert with the administration and the House. Everything right now, as the delegate (Kimberlyn King-Hinds) has said in multiple interviews, is that we have to address the issue. We're bleeding out in so many different ways and areas, and we just need to identify the gaps and move forward with a minimum amount of bickering and just try to do the best to move the scene forward,” he said.
And speaking of King-Hinds, who is King-Nabors’ older sister, she said she can’t help but be proud of her brother’s election as Senate president.
“These are not the best circumstances to ascend, but I am incredibly proud of him, and I think that he's been doing a good job. I know he'll do a good job, and I don't expect anything less. Otherwise, I'm going to have to come back with my stick, and heaven knows,” she said.
Turning nostalgic, King-Hinds said she and her brother, in their wildest dreams, wouldn’t have thought they’d be in key leadership positions growing up on Tinian.
“My two younger brothers used to call me the tank, right, because as the older sister in high school, I was the bigger one. We all wore the same size jeans, and we would trade clothes. And I don't know, man. You know, you have these moments, and you can't help but be proud,” she said.
Saipan Sen. Manny Castro, meanwhile, took time to honor the late governor Arnold I. Palacios as several of his colleagues were thrust into new leadership roles.
“A few days before the passing of honorable Palacios, Rep. Diego Camacho and I met with him. Given a lot of the challenges that we're facing when making any decision, we always try to focus on the signal rather than the noise. So, signal versus noise. In essence, the signal is the information you're trying to identify or focus on, while noise is distracting or irrelevant information that obscures the signal.”
He said one thing the governor always said was for leaders to focus on what they can control rather than the things that they can't.
“Governor Palacios was a true leader, not in words, but in action. Grounded, courageous, and focused. He worked tirelessly to create real change for our community. He never sought applause or fame. He simply put the needs of our people first. Governor Palacios showed us what true leadership is. Serving with integrity, acting with purpose, and speaking the truth, even when it's hard. Let us honor his memory by carrying forward his example. Serve with integrity, lead with vision, speak with truth, even when it's inconvenient.”
While eulogizing Palacios and extending his sincere condolences to first lady Wella and her family, Rota Sen. Ronnie Calvo also congratulated Apatang, Mendiola, and the new Senate leadership.
“We look forward to working together and tackling, like Sen. [Jude] Hofschneider said, you know, moving the CNMI forward,” he said.
Mendiola was also in attendance at his old stomping grounds and addressed his former colleagues in the Senate during the public comments period.
“Given the history of what we started on the 24th, I'm actually confident that this leadership group will continue to push some of the initiatives that we started to help the administration try and steer the economy in the right direction. Of course, unfortunately, the passing of our late governor, rest his soul. But we'd like to try and push for some of the ideas and the initiative that he has brought to the 24th Legislature.”
Mendiola admitted that given the positions that he and Palacios stood for before, it's a bit ironic that he’s now asking for the Legislature’s cooperation.
“I think that it's important that this legislature now work with the administration to try and steer this legislature in the right direction, the Commonwealth, and the administration.”
Before adjourning, King-Nabors announced to Senate members that he will be formalizing a credentialing committee to go ahead and move forward with Apatang’s message announcing a vacancy in the Senate following Mendiola’s ascension as lieutenant governor.
In Apatang’s communication to the Senate, he nominated former senator Paul Manglona to fill the Rota Senate seat vacated by Mendiola.
Report by Mark Rabago
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