The Republican Party of Guam has played a major role in island politics since its inception in 1966. Five of Guam’s seven elected governors have been Republican (Carlos G. Camacho, Paul M. Calvo, Joseph F. Ada, Felix P. Camacho and Eddie Baza Calvo), and Republican senators controlled I Liheslaturan Guåhan/the Guam Legislature in the late 1970s, early 1980s, and for much of the past decade. In addition, one of Guam’s long-standing Congressmen, Gen. Vicente “Ben” Blaz, was Republican as well as James C. Moylan.
The Republican Party of Guam stems from the old Territorial Party of Guam, which existed from 1956 through 1968. The Territorial Party was established in 1956 by Frank D. Perez, Pedro Leon Guerrero, Edward T. Calvo, Cynthia J. Torres, B.J. Bordallo, Vicente Reyes, Felix Carbullido, and Antonio Duenas. The Territorial Party had only one successful election, in 1964, when it won a majority in the Guam Legislature with 13 of the 21 seats.
On 21 November 1966, a few weeks after the general election of that year, former Governor Joseph Flores, along with former Territorial senators Carlos Garcia Camacho, Kurt S. Moylan, and Vicente C. Reyes, officially formed the Republican Party of Guam. Other Territorials soon became active, including Senators G. Ricardo Salas and Frank D. Perez. The new Republicans were careful not to portray their new party as a criticism of the Territorial Party, whose members they hoped to attract.
The formation of the new party was rooted in the belief held by its members that Guam had matured sufficiently to follow national political concepts and the realization that there needed to be two strong political parties on the island.
“Those who are eager to join the ranks of the Republican Party of Guam are by no means a group of dissenters, but are men and women who are strongly convinced that Guam has matured sufficiently to follow the national political concept,” said Governor Joseph Flores. “We think Guam is going to benefit greater with the emergence of the Republican Party here.”
In 1967, the first Lincoln Day Dinner was held. The dinner, in honor of famous Republican Abraham Lincoln, is now an annual tradition for the party. Former Governor Flores was elected chairman of the party in December 1967.
In 1968, Camacho was one of four local delegates to attend the national Republican convention, where he met many national figures, including presidential hopeful Richard Nixon. Nixon was elected in November 1968, and the Guam Republicans nominated Camacho to be the next appointed governor of Guam, following Democrat Manuel Guerrero. The party also nominated Moylan as Secretary of Guam (then the equivalent of lieutenant governor). Nixon appointed both Camacho and Moylan to the positions, and they were confirmed by the US Senate in June 1969.
In September 1968 and as an amendment to the 1950 Organic Act, the Guam Elective Governor Act was passed in the US Congress, giving Guam residents the right to elect their own governor for the first time. The first elections were slated for 1970.
Carlos Camacho and Kurt Moylan won Guam’s first General Election for Governor and Lieutenant Governor with 56 percent of the vote. Paul M. Calvo and Joseph Ada would win election for Governor and Lieutenant Governor in 1978. In 1984, Former US Marine Corps Brigadier General Vicente “Ben” Garrido Blaz defeated long-time incumbent Congressman Antonio Won Pat and held the position until 1993. In 1986 and in 1990, Joseph Ada and Frank F. Blas were the first gubernatorial team to win consecutive four-year terms. In 2002, Felix P. Camacho and Kaleo S. Moylan, the sons of the former Guam Governor and Lieutant Governor, would win the General Election, with Camacho being re-elected in 2006 with new running mate and Lieutenant Governor Dr. Michael Cruz. Eddie B. Calvo, the son of former Guam Governor Paul M. Calvo, won the gubernatorial election in 2010 and again in 2014 along with Ray Tenorio as Lt. Governor. James Moylan regained the seat of Guam Delegate in the US House of Representatives in the 2022 General Election. (guampedia.com).