This election oversaw the return of the CNMI Democratic Party as a major force in CNMI politics for the first time in a decade.[2][3] 2020 also saw the first time a party was able to challenge the CNMI Republican Party since the Covenant Party was dissolved in 2013. Four incumbent representatives that were elected as independents announced that they would run for re-election as Democrats while another independent aligns with the party.[4][5][3] Prior to the 2020 election, the Democrats had not won a legislative seat since their last wins in the 2007 general elections. The result of the 2020 general election was that the CNMI had experienced a blue wave, with the Democrats controlling nearly half the house and adding a member to the senate. The Republicans lost the trifecta it held since the 2016 Northern Mariana Islands general election and the single-party system it held since 2013. Voter turnout was at 72.05%, lower than the previous general elections election years of 2018, which was 77.4%, and 2014, which was 76.7%.[6]
Incumbent Delegate Gregorio Sablan, an independent who caucuses with the Democratic Party, ran uncontested for re-election. Sablan, first elected in 2008, had held the seat since its creation in 2009. Delegate Gregorio Sablan was re-elected.[2] The Northern Mariana Islands' non-voting delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives are elected for a two-year term.
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