JUST IN: Stunning Exit Polls Show GOP Flipping Guam Legislature For First Time In Over A Decade

The tiny island territory of Guam, long a Democratic bastion at the local level, appears to be hurtling toward Republican control for the first time in 16 years.

Exit polling reported on by the Express Tribune indicates that Guam Republicans are on track to grab the state legislature’s gavel for the first time since 2008, a remarkable turnaround for a caucus that has long been relegated to the sidelines during legislative sessions. Local elections are being held concurrently with U.S. federal elections on Tuesday, and they include contests for a non-voting delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives, the attorney general, supreme court judges, and all 15 seats in Guam’s unicameral legislature. The Guam Senate consists of 15 members serving two-year terms, nine of whom are Democrats. All are elected at large.

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Matthew Boyle, the Washington, D.C. bureau chief for Breitbart News, first reported on X what appears to be a seismic shift for the territory.

Exit polling suggests GOP has flipped the Guam legislature for the first time in nearly 2 decades.

— Matthew Boyle (@mboyle1) November 5, 2024

Guam, an organized U.S. territory in the western Pacific, does not participate in the presidential election though historically has held straw polls to gauge the population’s consensus on America’s leadership. In 2020, Guam voters left the polls giving President Joe Biden 55% of their support, a result that since appears to have flipped — at least at the local level.

There are 25 candidates in total running for Guam’s 15 Senate seats, 15 of whom are the incumbents. Democrats in the Senate are fending off challenges from three newcomers while the body’s six Republican senators are contending with eight challengers of their own, according to Ballotpedia. The Guam Daily Post reported on initial election results at approximately 10:30 a.m. EST showing nine of the top 15 vote-getters being Republican. Among them are newcomers Vincent Borja, Sabrina Salas Matanane, Shelly Calvo, Vicente Ada, and Eugolgio Shawn Gumataotao. Only four incumbents, Frank Blas Jr., Jesse Lujan, Christopher Duenas, and Telo Taitague, appear to have made the cut.

At the federal level, Republican Guam Delegate James Moylan seems to be on his way to another two-year term, beating back a challenge from Democrat Ginger Cruz. The 19 village mayors of Guam appear to be evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, the Post added.

A local radio station reported that billboards of local candidates adorn every street corner of the island’s 217 square miles, which is roughly the size of Chicago. There are 170,000 American citizens living on the island, making up just a fraction of the four million disenfranchised citizens living across all U.S. territories. Despite lacking a voice for president, Guam is of strategic importance for the U.S. — it sits closer to Beijing than Washington and is home to significant military infrastructure. Robert Underwood, a former Guam representative in Congress, explained that it makes political sense for Guam to not be given a formal vote in Washington. The “last thing” Washington wants, he told the outlet, is to see Guam voters reject its significant military presence and leadership on the island.

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