JUST IN: Republicans Flip Governorship In First Victory Of Election Day

Republicans scored a major Election Day victory in Guam, flipping the U.S. territory's governorship after the GOP ticket of Tony Ada and EJ Calvo defeated Democrats Therese Terlaje and Sabina Perez in a closely contested race.

The Republican victory came after a dramatic overnight reversal that saw Democrats surrender an early lead as election officials counted ballots across the Pacific territory.

According to unofficial results released by the Guam Election Commission around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, Ada-Calvo secured 15,945 votes, or 51.45%, compared with 14,925 votes, or 48.15%, for Terlaje-Perez.

With all 59 precincts reporting, Republicans finished ahead by 1,020 votes, a margin of 3.3 percentage points.

The outcome marked a significant Republican pickup in a territory previously governed by Democrats.

Terlaje acknowledged the defeat, telling supporters she had called Republican Vice Speaker Tony Ada to concede the gubernatorial contest on behalf of her ticket.

At Republican campaign headquarters, supporters erupted in celebration as lieutenant governor candidate EJ Calvo popped open a bottle of champagne.

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The victory capped a tense election night that initially appeared to favor Democrats.

Shortly before midnight Tuesday, Terlaje-Perez held a razor-thin advantage of just 80 votes, leading Ada-Calvo 5,243 to 5,163 with 21 precincts counted.

But the Republican ticket overtook its opponents as additional results arrived.

By 1 a.m., Ada-Calvo had established a nearly 500-vote lead, capturing 51.08% of the vote with 38 of 59 precincts reporting.

That advantage continued growing until the final precincts were counted, delivering the governorship to Republicans in the unofficial results.

The GOP also made gains in Guam's Legislature, with Republican candidates occupying eight of the top 15 positions after Democrats initially held the advantage.

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Democratic Sen. Chris Barnett led all legislative candidates with 19,783 votes, followed by fellow Democrat Amanda Shelton with 15,835.

Republican Sen. Sabrina Salas Matanane finished third with 14,220 votes, while GOP Sens. Jesse Lujan and Chris Duenas followed with 13,917 and 13,746 votes, respectively.

Additional Republicans among the top 15 included Telo Taitague, Hoa Nguyen, Vince Borja, Shelly Calvo and Shawn Gumataotao.

The legislative results represented another shift from the initial tally, when Democrats occupied eight of the leading positions.

However, Republicans did not sweep Guam's major contests.

Democratic congressional candidate Alicia Limtiaco defeated Republican incumbent Del. James Moylan in the unofficial count, securing 15,645 votes, or 51%, compared with Moylan's 14,983 votes, or 48.84%.

Limtiaco maintained her advantage throughout the evening, although the Republican incumbent narrowed the margin as additional precincts reported.

In the attorney general's race, attorney Phillip Tydingco also emerged ahead of incumbent Douglas Moylan.

Tydingco received 11,583 votes, or 38.29%, while Moylan finished with 10,008 votes, or 33.08%.

Thomas Fisher placed third with 3,842 votes, followed by Peter Santos with 3,353 and Jordan Pauluhn with 1,448.

Meanwhile, incumbent commissioners Simon Sanchez, Michael Limtiaco and Francis Santos held the three leading positions in the Consolidated Commission on Utilities election.

The Guam Election Commission began processing ballots Tuesday night at the University of Guam Calvo Field House, where election workers received ballot boxes from precincts across the island.

Although all precincts have reported, the results remain unofficial.

The commission is scheduled to reconvene Nov. 19 to count off-island ballots before the election results are certified.

For Republicans, the gubernatorial victory represents a notable Election Day development, with the Ada-Calvo ticket overturning an early Democratic lead and securing a 1,020-vote advantage in the completed precinct count.

The final certification process remains outstanding, but Terlaje's concession and the completed unofficial tally have placed Republicans on course to take control of Guam's governorship.

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