Bordallo’s Guam Comeback

The embattled ex-Governor hits back.

By David S North

Richard bordallo, Guam’s ex-Govemor now appealing a fed eral court conviction for fraud, scored a small comeback as the US terri tories moved into another of their two-year political cycles.

Bordallo led the voting as the island’s Democrats elected six delegates to the Democratic National Convention, which will chose its candidate for President (the Guam delegation is uncommitted).

At the same well-attended caucus, in which the ex-Governor won 470 votes to Joseph C Cruz’s 279, Bordallo’s wife was re-elected unanimously as Democratic National Committeewoman. As such she will have a partial convention vote.

While Bordallo’s victory was the high point of the early part of the political sea son in America’s Pacific territories, the principal excitement later in the year will be in American Samoa, with vigorous bat tles ahead for both the post of governor and that of the territory’s delegate to Congress.

In November the Samoans will chose between sitting Governor AP Lutali and former Governor Peter Tali Coleman.

Although the race to be governor is now a two-man battle, the campaign for the at tractive, but voteless, seat in the US Con gress will be a free-for-all whether or not the incumbent, Fofo Sunia, decides to seek another term.

Sunia, who sits with the Democrats, has been under a cloud for months as both the House of Representatives Ethics Com mittee and, more importantly, a District of Columbia grand jury reportedly inves tigate charges of payroll improprieties. If charged will he resign, run again, or just serve out his term? He will not say.

Meanwhile, four other strong candi dates have entered the contest. They in clude both the current and the former governors, Sunia’s Republican-backed

opponent in 1984 and 1986, and a promi nent member of the Territorial senate.

Meanwhile Guam’s congressman, Re publican Ben Blaz, is regarded as a likely winner. No one in either party has yet of fered to run against him for the two-year term in the November election.

The voteless congressmen from Amer ican Samoa and Guam have, in many ways, the best political jobs in the Pacific; they do not have the day-to-day burdens of governors and prime ministers, but they do serve as de facto ambassadors from their territories in the US Capitol, are paid more than $U589,500 annually and have budgets of almost SUSSOO,OOO a year.

Samoa’s delegates, unlike those of Guam, have lined up to support Demo crat Governor Dukakis of Massachusetts.

At first the six-vote Samoan delegation was split, with Sunia backing his fellow rep resentative Dick Gephardt of Missouri while Governor Lutali supported his fel low governor. But Gephardt was elimi nated in the early primaries and the Samoans cast their lot right after the New York primary with Dukakis, who won that state primary handsomely.

There had been some speculation that Sunia’s troubles might prevent him win ning a seat in the Democratic convention as a “super-delegate” (in other words, one elected by his peers in the house) but they ignored the controversy.

The islands have now made their de cisions on the Presidency, as the residents do not vote in the general election for President.

Meanwhile both parts of the Fono, the Samoan legislature, are up for grabs; both the matai-elected senate and the popu larly elected House of Representatives.

Similarly, Guam will elect its 21-member senate as well, a body now dominated by the Democrats by a 13-8 margin. □