Northern Mariana Islands general election, 2009

General elections were held in the Northern Mariana Islands on 7 November 2009, electing the Governor, the Legislature, four mayors, the Board of Education and nine municipal council members. There were also four referendums.

A total of 16,146 voters registered to vote with the Commonwealth Election Commission for the 2009 election. That is a 15% increase in voters compared to the 15,118 people who registered to vote in the 2005 general election. Precinct 1 on Saipan, which includes the villages of San Antonio, San Vicente and Koblerville, had the most number of registered voters at 4,331. Voter registration ended on September 18, 2009.

A total of 109 candidates vied for the 43 elected positions in the Northern Mariana Islands in the 2009 election. The contested offices included the offices of governor & lieutenant governor, the twenty seats in the House of Representative, six (of nine) seats in the Senate as well as mayoral posts and various local offices.

At least 18,000 ballots designed to be read by counting machines were printed in Alabama for the 2009 election, according to the executive director of the Election Commission, Robert Guerrero.

Major election issues included the Commonwealth's faltering economy and the federalization of the Northern Mariana Islands' immigration by the United States government.

Republican Hofschneider and his running mate, Palacios, challenged incumbent Governor Benigno Fitial and his running mate, Lieutenant Governor Eloy Inos, in the general election. Former legislator Juan "Pan" Guerrero ran as an independent, with sitting CNMI Rep. Joe Camacho as his running mate. Another former legislator, Ramon "Kumoi" Deleon Guerrero, campaigned as an independent, with former Education Commissioner David M. Borja as his running mate. The race was widely viewed as a rematch between Fitial and Hofschneider, who was narrowly defeated in 2005.

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