Shawn Gumataotao secures 15th spot in 38th Guam Legislature after recount

The election results have now been made official. A recount of the 15th and 16th spots in the senatorial race was conducted at the Election Return Center inside the Westin Resort overnight. 

The final seat left for either Senator-Elect Shawn Gumataotao or Senator Roy Quinata. The law required the Guam Election Commission to recount due to the close margin of votes between the two. 

Officials spent more than five hours running the ballots through the machines, as GEC executive director Maria Pangelinan explained, "With the recount there was no change with the order of number 15 and 16. With the absentee and provisional, number 15 total ballots counted was 11,526 and for number 16 it's 11,246."

The GEC then moving ahead with certifying the results for the 2024 general election. Senator-Elect Gumataotao was joined early Thursday by incoming speaker Frank Blas Jr., incoming vice speaker Tony Ada, Senator Jesse Lujan, and Senator-Elect Sabrina Salas Matanane.

The GOP celebrated Gumataotao's win, as the senator-elect said, "It's only been a couple hours of sleep, getting a lot great comments from the community and it really puts the end to this great 2024 election cycle, the administerial duty of the GEC and it's been some exciting times and now it's time to move forward and begin that process of to getting to 2025 and beyond. It's exciting. I'm a little gassed today but I think what is keeping me going is the fact that there is a lot of work that's going to be done and I am excited to be a part of it."

The republican majority is expected to meet Thursday night to decide who will take on committee chair roles in the 38th. Gumataotao added that he will retain his position as chairman of the Republican Party of Guam.

"I'm going to continue to lead the party," he confirmed. "I think that for us it's focusing now on who is going to run in 2026 for governor, the slate of candidates for the Guam legislature in 2026. That's where most of my work outside of lawmaking is trying to put together the teams and groups to have a successful 2026."

Lieutenant Governor Josh Tenorio has already announced his bid for governor under the democrat party, but has yet to announce his running mate.