Northern Mariana Islands Senate

The Northern Mariana Islands Senate is the upper house of the Northern Mariana Islands Commonwealth Legislature. The Senate consists of nine senators representing three senatorial districts (Saipan & the Northern Islands, Tinian & Aguijan, and Rota), each a multi-member constituency with three senators.

Northern Mariana Islands Senate
Senate
Type
Type	Upper house of Northern Mariana Islands
History
New session started	23rd Legislature
Leadership
President	Karl King-Nabors (R) since July 23, 2025
Vice President	Corina Magofna since July 31, 2025
Majority Leader	Donald M. Manglona (I) since January 13, 2025
Minority Leader	Vacant since January 9, 2023
Structure
Seats	9
Political groups	Majority Caucus (7)   Republican (4)   Independent (3) Minority Caucus (2)   Democratic (2)
Elections
Last election	November 5, 2024
Next election	2026
Website
https://cnmileg.net/senate.asp

Maria Frica Pangelinan was the first woman to serve in the Senate.^[1]

Vacancies

In the event of a vacancy that occurs less than two years before the end of the Senator's term, the Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands appoints the runner-up of the most recent election. Should that individual decline, the next highest vote getting, unsuccessful candidate become the prospective appointee. Should all the previous candidate's decline, the Governor would then choose an eligible citizen for consideration.^[2] In the event a vacancy occurs more than two years before the next scheduled election, a special election is held.^[3]

Senators of the 24th Commonwealth Legislature

In the 24th Commonwealth Legislature, the majority caucus consists of four Republicans and three allied independent lawmakers. Karl King-Nabors became President of the Senate after Dennis C. Mendiola was elevated to lieutenant governor after the death of Arnold Palacios. Corina Magofna became Vice President in July 2025. Since the start of the 24th Commonwealth Legislature, Francisco Q. Cruz and Donald M. Manglona have served as legislative secretary and Floor Leader respectively. Ronnie M. Calvo is a member of the majority caucus.^[4][5][6]

District	Name	Party	Caucus	Took Office
1 Rota	Donald M. Manglona	Independent	Majority	January 9, 2023[7]
	Ronnie Mendiola Calvo	Independent	Majority	January 13, 2025
	Paul Manglona	Republican[citation needed]	Majority[citation needed]	July 31, 2025
2 Tinian	Jude Hofschneider	Republican	Majority	January 12, 2015[8]
	Francisco Q. Cruz	Republican	Majority	January 11, 2010[9]
	Karl King-Nabors	Republican	Majority	January 11, 2021[10]
3 Saipan	Celina Babauta	Democratic	Minority	January 9, 2023[7]
	Corina Magofna	Independent	Majority	January 9, 2023[7]
	Manny Castro	Democratic	Minority	January 13, 2025

Past composition of the Senate

Main article: Political party strength in the Northern Mariana Islands

In the November 2007 elections, the three senators up for re-election were all re-elected to another four-year term in the 16th and 17th Senate. The Covenant Party, which lost control of the House, entered into coalition with the Democrats and a lone Independent over the Senate's leadership and voting agenda. The CNMI Senate was controlled in 2016 by a Republican majority under Senate President Francisco Borja.^[11]

Affiliation	Party (Shading indicates majority/plurality)				Total
	Republican	Independent	Democratic	Covenant		Vacant
End of 17th Legislature	4	4	0	1	9	0
Beginning of 18th Legislature	5	4	0	0	9	0
End of 18th Legislature	5	3				1[12]
Beginning of 19th Legislature	7	2	0	0	9	0
End of 19th Legislature	6	3
20th Legislature	7	2	0	0	9	0
21st Legislature	6	3	0	0	9	0
22nd Legislature	5	3	1	0	9	0
23rd Legislature	4	3	2	0	9	0
24th Legislature	4	3	2	0	9	0
Latest voting share	77.8%		22.2%

See also

• Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives
• List of Northern Mariana Islands Governors