SAIPAN — Dr. Lawrence Fejeran Camacho was happy being Commissioner of Education. He said so himself Friday on Good Morning Marianas: he wanted to stay. What moved him into the governor’s race, he said, was what he kept hearing from the students.
“The kids want to be on campus… because it’s safer to be in school than in their neighborhoods,” Camacho said, recalling conversations from his years leading the Public School System. Students told him they looked forward to Mondays because weekends meant being stuck inside. “Like the village that I thrived in when I was growing up, we were outside more than we were inside… It was safe.”
Camacho resigned as commissioner on June 10 to pursue the campaign, closing the dual-track question that had followed his candidacy since filing. “I could sit down and be comfortable as commissioner,” he said. “But what good is that if we’re not getting the resources to enable us to advance the school system?” He framed the decision in the words he used with his wife and his committee: “We’re okay, but not everybody else is okay… I want everybody else to be okay.”
The retired military officer laid out an operational approach to a potential transition: a transition team already at work so there is no post-election “rucksack flop,” and a 90-day standard for current officials. Cabinet-level incumbents “just got to articulate that within the 90 days… they’re doing the effective and efficient way of doing business to us so we can keep them,” he said, describing a strategic house-cleaning rather than the wholesale political sweep of past administrations.
Camacho confirmed the gubernatorial debate calendar taking shape: a Northern Marianas Descent Corporation forum on August 15, a Marianas Press forum on August 17 and the Saipan Chamber of Commerce gubernatorial debate in late October, with Commonwealth Election Commission certification of candidates expected Monday.
He spoke at length about his running mate, former Senate President Edith E. Deleon Guerrero, saying her command of government finances sealed his choice: “When she was giving me the insights about the financials… I just realized that there is really, really a way on how to get through this.” He compared the pairing to his military commands: “You always need that sergeant major.”
The interview turned personal around his father’s recent passing at 84. Camacho said his father’s final charge was to keep going: “He did tell me… you do not slow down, because this is important.” His campaign message pressed the same theme of structured change over quick fixes: “Not all money is good money,” he said, arguing the Commonwealth cannot promise a leap from 17 flights to 156 “and then all of a sudden we have all these flights going on, but there’s really nothing to offer.”
His pitch to voters closed where his campaign slogan lives: “We want our people to know that they don’t have to leave here… because the future is here. That’s the future we’re building.” A future, as the ticket puts it, worth staying for.
