SAIPAN — Former Lt. Gov. Diego Tenorio Benavente, a fisherman-turned-entrepreneur who went on to serve as House speaker, lieutenant governor, and Republican Party chair, died early Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025. He was 66.
Benavente was born on Saipan on April 21, 1959, and graduated from Mount Carmel School before studying at the College of Southern Idaho. He returned home to open Diego’s Mart, a pioneering indoor fish market whose “Finest in Fresh Fish” slogan became well known to local families.
He first ran for public office in 1987 and narrowly lost by just a handful of votes, but won a seat in the CNMI House of Representatives in 1989. He went on to serve six consecutive terms, including three terms as speaker in the 1990s, a period remembered for major budget and policy decisions that shaped the young Commonwealth.
In 2001, Benavente was elected the Commonwealth’s sixth lieutenant governor on a ticket with Gov. Juan N. Babauta, serving from 2002 to 2006. After returning to the Legislature in 2007, he remained a prominent voice on economic development, fisheries management, and government reform, and later became president of the CNMI Republican Party in 2023.
Beyond politics, Benavente was deeply tied to the islands’ maritime culture. A lifelong member of the Saipan Fishermen’s Association and a longtime tournament fisherman in the Saipan International Fishing Tournament, he was widely known on the docks at Smiling Cove Marina. A bill now before lawmakers would rename that harbor the Diego Tenorio Benavente Smiling Cove Marina in his honor.
His decades of public service drew recognition far beyond the CNMI. In September, CNMI Delegate Kimberlyn King-Hinds entered a tribute into the U.S. Congressional Record, honoring him as a “fisherman, entrepreneur, Speaker, and Lieutenant Governor” whose steady leadership helped shape the Commonwealth.
In August, Benavente was diagnosed with an aggressive form of acute leukemia. He spoke openly about his decision to forgo intensive treatment, choosing instead to spend his remaining time at home on Saipan with his wife Vicky, their family, and close friends, focusing on “quality” of life and simple joys like fishing and golf.
In October, leaders from across Micronesia gathered at a “special evening” in Saipan to celebrate his life and legacy, an event that brought together current and former governors of the CNMI, Guam and Palau, members of the judiciary, and community leaders from across the region.
Even in his final months, Benavente continued to speak about the future of the Commonwealth, urging younger voters to look beyond family ties and choose leaders based on ideas and integrity, and calling on island governments to act “as one blue continent” in regional affairs.
