SAIPAN – Long-time business leader and community advocate Jay Santos officially announced his candidacy for the CNMI Senate during a live interview on Good Morning Marianas Thursday morning, marking his first venture into politics after more than three decades of community service in Saipan.
Santos, who has called Saipan home since 1993, made the announcement on the morning show hosted by Brad Ruszala, declaring his intention to represent the entire island rather than a single precinct in the 2026 election.
“I want your listeners and the community to know that I’m going to be seeking a Senate seat in next year’s election,” Santos told Ruszala during the December 18 broadcast.
Santos grew up in Los Angeles as the son of a Saipan native who retired from Continental Airlines in 1986. After visiting the island in 1993 with plans to travel throughout Asia, Santos made an unexpected decision that would shape the rest of his life.
“I came out to visit, and I never left,” Santos said. “I love Saipan. I love our islands. I love our culture. I love our people. It’s just the best decision. I think one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life was to move to Saipan.”
Over the past 30 years, Santos has built an extensive resume in both the private sector and community service. He worked for Joeten and Frances Demapan before spending six years at Pacific Islands Club under Bart Jackson, who now leads Bridge Capital. He credits these early mentors, along with Wendy Herring, as instrumental in his professional development.
Santos later served briefly as Director of Customs during the Juan N. Babauta administration before joining Triple J, where he spent 18 years working directly under founder Bob Jones.
“To have a straight line to Bob Jones, looking back, it was amazing,” Santos reflected. “The stuff that I learned from that guy was just incredible. It’s just an experience that you can’t ask for.”
Santos currently works at AK, where he has been for approximately seven months. In 2023, he was named Business Person of the Year by the Saipan Chamber of Commerce.
Beyond his professional achievements, Santos has maintained deep roots in community service throughout his time in Saipan. He has served on the Make-A-Wish board, the Chamber of Commerce, Rotary, and coached youth football in the 1990s.
“Some of my best memories was coaching youth football,” Santos said. “The best thing that’s come from that for me is you got these 30 and early 40-year-old guys still walking around calling me coach.”
More recently, Santos played a pivotal role in reviving baseball in Saipan after the sport had been dormant for years following typhoon damage to facilities. He helped organize the local league which prepared the national team that won gold at the Pacific Mini Games in 2022.
“We had no choice,” Santos explained about rebuilding the program. “We had to fill the team, and we had the home field advantage. And it was important that we put a strong team together.”
The revival of baseball has special meaning for Santos, a lifelong Los Angeles Dodgers fan who grew up attending games at Dodger Stadium.
Santos’s decision to run for Senate comes after navigating one of the most difficult periods of his life. His wife was diagnosed with cancer in 2023, forcing the family to travel to the mainland for treatment.
“It’s a scary thing, man. It’s a super scary thing,” Santos said, his voice catching with emotion during the interview. “And there’s no manual. You can’t open up the manual and say, okay, how do I deal with cancer in the family and then at the same time still be engaged with the kids and work and obligations.”
By the grace of God, his wife’s cancer is now in remission. The experience led to discussions about potentially relocating to the mainland, but Santos ultimately decided to stay and continue serving the community he loves.
“Saipan is home, and I love this place. And I have a hard time thinking about wanting to move to the States because this has been my home for 30 years now.”
Chief among Santos’ key priorities is supporting small businesses, which he called the lifeblood of the local economy.
“Our small businesses, man, they need some help,” Santos said. “We need to do everything we can to keep small businesses moving along. I’ve got a strong business background. I’ve helped manage some really large businesses on island, and I want to take that experience and see what I can do to help.”
Santos also emphasized the need to retain local talent and create opportunities for young people to return home after completing their education.
“We’ve got to figure out ways that we can leave them an island, a community that they can be proud of, that they want to come back home to, that they want to be a part of,” he said, noting that his own adult children in Boise, Idaho, want to return but find the prospects challenging.
Perhaps most significantly, Santos stressed his commitment to working across party lines and putting the community’s interests above political divisions.
“I understand parties and I understand loyalty to parties or slates and stuff like that,” Santos said. “But whatever happened to loyalty to our people and whatever happened to loyalty to our islands, and loyalty to doing what’s best for everybody and not what’s best for me or my immediate family.”
When asked why he chose to run for Senate rather than starting at the House level, Santos explained his desire to represent the entire island.
“I want to represent the entire island, and I get it, the importance of the precinct level,” he said. “But even when I’ve served the community, whether it was nonprofit organizations or the chamber or Rotary or youth football, it’s always been about the entire island. I want to serve everybody here in Saipan, and the CNMI for that matter.”
Santos acknowledged that campaigning will present unique challenges for someone who describes himself as humble and uncomfortable talking about his own accomplishments.
“I believe I’m a very humble person. That’s why I think maybe this next year is going to be kind of hard for me too, because I’m not used to talking about myself, and I don’t like talking about myself,” he said. “But I guess to convince people to give me an opportunity to serve them in the Senate, then I’ve got to do a lot of talking about myself this next year. And that’s going to be the hardest part for me.”
The decision to run came after years of consideration and finally receiving the support of his wife.
“I’ve been wanting to do this a long time,” Santos revealed. “If your wife’s not going to support you, your wife’s not going to vote for you, there’s a really good chance that you’re not going to get an opportunity to serve.”
The couple discussed his political aspirations during quiet moments at home, and she eventually gave her blessing.
“When she said, man, if this is something you want to do, and you’ve been wanting to do it, I guess I’ll let you do it now,” Santos said.
