Our Campaigns - Guam Governor Race

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Guam Governor

RACE DETAILS

Parents

> United States > Guam > Governor

Office

Governor

Honorific

Governor - Abbr: Gov.

Type

General Election

Filing Deadline

January 01, 1998 - 12:00pm Central

Polls Open

November 03, 1998 - 06:00am Central

Polls Close

November 03, 1998 - 11:00pm Central

Term Start

January 03, 1999 - 12:00pm

Term End

January 03, 2003 - 12:00pm

Contributor

411 Name Removed

Last Modified

RBH May 19, 2011 06:38pm

Data Sources

Description

The 1998 Gubenatorial election was the most expensive and controversial election in Guam's history. Incumbent Gov. Gutierrez outspent his opponent, former Gov. Ada almost ten-to-one and appeared to come up short of the 50% required to win without a runoff. The Election Commission determined that ballots which left "Governor & Lt. Governor" blank would not count towards the total, giving Gutierrez a 51.2% victory.

Fmr. Gov. Ada took the issue to court alleging that the Gutierrez campaign sought to allow non-citizen, deceased and underage voters cast ballots in the Guam Superior Court and another suit claiming the Election Commission should have called for a runoff made its way to the US Supreme Court. The state suit was dismissed in February 1999, but the federal issue went unresolved for over a year before the Supreme Court handed down its decision.

Justice Souter autored the unanimous opinion ruling the Guam Organic Act requires the winner receive the majority of votes cast for the specific office, "but not a majority of the number of ballots cast in the simultaneous general election." Thus the ballots with recorded votes for State Senate and/or Delegate, but blank in the "Governor" category were not included in the final total, giving Gov. Gutierrez and Lt. Gov. Bordallo a legitimate second term.