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Juan Nekai Babauta was the fifth elected Governor of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

Babauta, the oldest son in a family of nine children, was born in Saipan on September 7, 1953. He spent his early childhood in the village of Tanapag. After completing elementary school there, his parents sent him to the mainland United States to further his education. He traveled to Vermont, where he lived on a dairy farm with a host family, while attending Enosburg Falls High School. Babauta was a member of the Class of 1972's National Honors Society, and he was the student body president during his senior year.

Babauta's higher education includes a summer session at Johnson State College in the U.S. state of Vermont, a Bachelors of Science degree in American History from Eastern New Mexico University, a Master of Arts degree in Political Science/American History from Eastern New Mexico University, and a Master of Science degree in Health Planning/Administration from the University of Cincinnati.

Babauta's interest in health planning began when he worked as a health planner for the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands in Saipan from April to August of 1977. He returned to that position after earning his degree, and served as Executive Director for the Commonwealth Health Planning and Development Agency from May 1979 to January 1986.

Juan Babauta's public service career began with his election to a four-year term as Senator, serving in the fifth and Sixth Northern Marianas Commonwealth Legislature. As Senator, his major accomplishments included:

• Drafting and passage of Public Law 6-30, insuring the environmental quality of life in the Commonwealth;
• Drafting and passage of Public Law 6-12, providing the people of the CNMI with rights to all groundwater resources;
• Drafting and passage of Public Law 6-10, establishing the Board of Education as an elected body and making the public school system an autonomous agency.

At the end of his term as Senator, Juan Babauta was elected as Resident Representative to the United States, a position he served for three four-year terms. Among his many accomplishments during his 12 year tenure as Northern Marianas Washington Representative are:

• Securing $5.5 million for the construction of an Air Traffic Control Tower at the Saipan International Airport;
• Securing $3 million for the American Memorial Park Development to honor Americans killed in the World War II Battle of Saipan;
• Assuring that the CNMI received over $149 million in Covenant funding from FY1993 to FY2003;
• Acquiring official recognition from the Department of the Navy for the Saipan Scouts after a fifty year wait;
• Assuring an equal opportunity for CNMI students to learn and serve at the U.S. Service Academies;
• Including the CNMI in the Telecommunications Act, lowering long distance rates and establishing a CNMI area code;
• Procuring funding for the International Broadcast Bureau ("Voice of America") to locate transmitting stations in Saipan and Tinian;
• Securing $1.5 million for a Veterans Cemetery in Saipan without matching funds.

In November 2001 he was elected governor of the Northern Mariana Islands as a Republican, receiving 42% of the vote in a 4-way race, coming far ahead of his Covenant Party, Democratic Party and Reform Party opponents. He was sworn in on January 14, 2002. He ran for reelection in the 2005 (November 6) Gubernatorial elections under the Republican Party banner. He was defeated, after nearly two weeks of time in which the election results were not known, receiving 26% of the vote and third place in a tight 4-way race (elected Governor: Benigno R. Fitial)