Education chief becomes the second Independent candidate to enter CNMI's gubernatorial race
- Admin
- May 21
- 4 min read
By Bryan Manabat
Saipan- Lawrence Camacho, the Northern Marianas' chief of education, has announced his bid as an Independent candidate for governor, entering a three-way race to Capitol Hill, with former labor secretary Edith Deleon Guerrero as his running mate.
The commissioner of the CNMI Public School System was expected to resign from the education agency after Wednesday’s board meeting, following his May 16 candidacy announcement.
Camacho and Deleon Guerrero are running against another Independent ticket, Rep. Blas Jonathan Attao and House Speaker Edmund Villagomez, and the Republican tandem, former Gov. Ralph DLG Torres and Kagman High School principal Benjamin Jones Jr.
No Democratic Party candidate has stepped forward for the Nov. 3 gubernatorial election.
Camacho and Deleon Guerrero emphasized the urgent need for the commonwealth to rebuild its economy to provide young people with reasons to remain on the islands.
Camacho’s departure from the PSS post will clear the way for a full‑time campaign and end his nearly two‑year tenure leading the public school system.
Transparency will be a defining principle of both his campaign and a future administration, Camacho said.
“We’re going to make sure people know what’s going on,” he said. “If we don’t do that, people won’t be informed — and that’s not acceptable.”
In an extended interview with the Pacific Island Times after announcing his candidacy, Camacho offered his most detailed explanation yet of why he is seeking the governorship, how his military and educational background shaped him, and why he believes the CNMI is at a generational turning point.
“I grew up here. I’m a product of the public school system. CNMI invested in me,” Camacho said. “Now I want to return that investment and help fix the struggles people are facing today so our kids have a future worth staying for.”
Camacho’s 27‑year career in the U.S. Army took him from peacekeeping missions in Bosnia to combat operations in Iraq, to strategic diplomatic work in Egypt, to teaching at major universities. He retired as a U.S. Army lieutenant colonel.
His service began with the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment at Fort Polk, Louisiana, where he deployed to Bosnia‑Herzegovina for six months on a post‑war peacekeeping mission.
As a company commander in the 1st Cavalry Division, he led 250 soldiers into Iraq in 2004 for a 14‑month combat deployment. He later returned to Iraq as a logistics officer with the 3rd Infantry Division, overseeing the movement of 4,000 soldiers and equipment into the theater for a year‑long mission.
“I went to war twice,” Camacho said. “Those experiences shaped how I lead, how I think, and how I understand responsibility.”
Between deployments, the Army sent him to teach at Georgia Tech, serve in South Korea and complete the Command and General Staff College, where he earned one of his three master’s degrees.
One of his most strategic assignments came when he was sent to the U.S. Embassy in Egypt to advise the Egyptian military on the United States’ $1.5 billion annual foreign military sales program. He remained in Cairo during the 2013 political upheaval when the Egyptian military removed President Mohamed Morsi.
He later served as a Port Opening Synchronization Cell director at Fort Eustis, advising multiple U.S. combatant commands on logistics and war‑craft planning. He also commanded the 53rd Movement Control Battalion under the 7th Transportation Brigade.
His final assignment was as professor of military science at Drexel University, where he completed his doctorate and a third master’s degree before retiring.
Camacho’s military decorations include two Bronze Star Medals, a Defense Meritorious Service Medal, five Meritorious Service Medals and the Combat Action Badge.
After retiring, Camacho served five years as dean of student affairs at the University of Guam, but he said he always felt pulled back to the CNMI.
“Someone told me, ‘You’re always facing north,’” he said. “I always knew I would come home.”
As PSS commissioner, he pushed for career pathways, workforce alignment and a “portrait of a graduate” model designed to prepare students for real‑world opportunities.
But he said the commonwealth must fix its economy now, not later, if it wants to keep its young people.
“They tell me they want to stay here,” he said. “But to make sure they stay, we have to prepare this place and get it back on its feet.”
Camacho said Deleon Guerrero’s experience in fiscal policy, workforce development and labor regulation made her the natural choice for lieutenant governor.
“She tells it like it is,” he said. “Nobody has all the ideas, but with many ideas on the table, we can choose the best one. That’s why I need people like Edith around me.”
Camacho said he and Deleon Guerrero chose to run as independents because they believe the CNMI needs leadership “focused on people, not political sides.”
Article III, Section 6 of the CNMI Constitution requires that candidates for governor or lieutenant governor be at least 35 years old, be U.S. citizens, and have been residents and domiciliaries of the commonwealth for at least 10 years immediately preceding the election.
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The Constitution defines domicile as the place a person intends to return to, even if they leave temporarily for education, military service, medical treatment or business.
Camacho said that provision was written for Indigenous residents who leave to serve, study, or work, but maintain their permanent ties to the commonwealth.
“It’s designed to protect folks who are from here,” he said. “I left for the military and for education, but I always had the intention of coming back. The evidence is that I’m here.”
He noted he has been registered to vote in the CNMI since 1989 and never registered anywhere else.
Camacho credits his late grandfather, Gregorio Tudela Camacho, for instilling the values that shaped his life, including the lesson: “Don’t talk unless you know what you’re talking about.”
His father, Luis B. Blanco Camacho, supported him through years of schooling that led to an associate degree, a bachelor’s degree, three master’s degrees and a doctorate.
He is married to Gina Duenas. They raised three children: Vince Louis, Gregory Jacob and Tamara Ann, who are now adults working in the military, business and nursing.
Outside of public service, Camacho describes himself as a rancher and an island boy at heart. “When I’m not in the office, I’m at the ranch,” he said. “That keeps me grounded.”
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