Republicans picked up their first governorship of the 2026 midterms in Guam, where Tony Ada overtook Democrat Therese Terlaje as the island counted votes overnight. Terlaje led when the first batch of precincts came in. By the time all 59 had reported, Ada and his running mate, E.J. Calvo, were ahead by 1,020 votes. Terlaje conceded, ending eight years of Democratic control of the governor’s office.
Guam voters were choosing a successor to Democratic Governor Lou Leon Guerrero, who had reached her term limit. Both parties turned to sitting members of the island’s legislature for the top of the ticket. Terlaje chose a fellow senator, Sabina Perez, to run for lieutenant governor. The two tickets appeared on the November 3rd ballot as the island faced decisions about the cost of housing and a U.S. military buildup already underway.
The first returns favored the Democrats by just 80 votes. That count included precincts from Dededo and Yigo, two villages with sizable numbers of voters. Terlaje and Perez had drawn 5,243 votes to 5,163 for Ada and Calvo. At that point, election officials had counted ballots from 21 precincts, leaving nearly two-thirds of the island’s precincts still to report.
The Guam Election Commission released its full unofficial tally around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday on the island, as Trending Politics reported. Ada and Calvo finished with 15,945 votes, or 51.45%, against 14,925 votes, or 48.15%, for Terlaje and Perez. The 3.3-point Republican victory reached the mainland while Americans there were still voting on Tuesday. Guam, in the western Pacific, was the first U.S. territory to report results in the midterms.
Ada had made Guam’s relationship with Washington a campaign issue. The military is building an air and missile defense system designed to protect the island from attacks coming from any direction. The project carries an estimated $8 billion price tag, and separate construction is underway to accommodate Marines relocating from Okinawa, Japan. “We are at a point where we need to ensure that we keep our relationship with both the federal government and the military intact,” Ada told Marianas Press before the election.
Federal decisions about the waters off Guam also figured in the race. The Trump administration proposed offering more than 67 million acres of ocean floor for mineral leasing near Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. The administration wants a domestic supply of minerals used in electronics and defense equipment. Perez questioned how mining might affect people who earn their living in those waters and sought a greater role for island officials in those discussions.
Watch Tony Ada and E.J. Calvo address supporters after the count:
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Closer to home, the next governor will inherit a tourism industry where visitor arrivals were running at just 42% of their pre-pandemic level in the days before the election. Mer Oasay, a 68-year-old taxi business owner interviewed during the campaign, wanted the incoming administration to make bringing visitors back a priority. Island voters also face two long-deferred construction projects, a new hospital and a new building for Simon Sanchez High School.
The election will bring new faces to the legislature that takes up those projects. Six senators, including Ada and Terlaje, gave up their seats to seek higher office, opening up more than a third of the 15-member chamber. After the gubernatorial count, Ada and Calvo appeared together to address their supporters. Marianas Press reporter Haidee Eugenio Gilbert filmed the winning ticket’s remarks early Wednesday.
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video.