Guam Election 2026: Torres' campaign focuses on affordability, security and opportunity

Mary Torres

By Campaign Team

Standing before a packed room of supporters at Capitol Kitchen, Mary Camacho Torres officially launched her campaign for Congress Thursday night with a clear message: Guam needs stronger representation, real accountability, and leadership that delivers affordability, security, and opportunity for everyday families.

In her remarks, Torres addressed the pressures shaping daily life on Guam—rising costs, fragile supply chains, and federal decisions made without the island at the table.

“Across Guam, people feel pushed to the limit,” Torres said. “Families feel it when their paycheck runs out before the month does. They feel it at the grocery store. They feel it when rent goes up again.”

Torres said small businesses are facing the same strain—working harder to stay open, hire locally, and keep prices within reach—while federal policies that shape Guam’s economy are too often decided thousands of miles away, without Guam’s voice present early in the process.

“That is not a failure of Guam’s businesses,” she said. “It is a failure of representation. When Guam is not at the table early, we are not heard. We are informed after the fact. And then we’re left to live with the consequences—without ever having shaped the decision.”

Torres grounded that argument in her experience as a leader across multiple government agencies, where she said she saw firsthand how decisions made in Washington ripple through everyday life on Guam.

As a former leader at agencies including the Guam Visitors Bureau, Port, and Airport, Torres described how federal visa policies, visitor rules, and foreign carrier regulations directly affect tourism, jobs, and local revenue. She pointed to supply chain and port-related federal decisions that drive up the cost of goods before they ever reach store shelves, and aviation policies that shape airlift, competition, and prices at the airport.

“I’ve seen it from the inside—and I know how often Guam is brought in too late," Torres said

Torres also pointed to her record of results in public service, including authoring nearly 40 laws as a senator that cut taxes for small businesses, supported working families, and strengthened protections for victims. She framed that work around a simple standard: leadership should improve people’s lives in tangible, measurable ways.

“If you look honestly at your life today—your family budget, your business, your sense of security—do you feel better off than you did four years ago?” Torres asked. “If the answer is no, then we have a responsibility to say the next thing out loud: it’s time for a change.”

The kickoff marked the start of a campaign centered on affordability, security, and opportunity—and on ensuring Guam has a strong, credible voice in Washington that shows up early, speaks clearly, and delivers results.

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