Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Local elections do not have primaries, nor are their political party affiliations. Teams, comprising candidates for governor and lt. governor run — and when one of them wins, the Administration is identified by their names. In this year’s election, there were three (3) gubernatorial teams — L&L, P&P, and V&T.

They are respectively, the incumbent team of Lemanu P.S. Mauga and Laapui Talauega E.V. Ale; Pulaalii Nikolao Pula and Pulu Ae Ae, Jr; and, Vaitautolu Talia Faafetai and Maefau Dr. Mary Taufetee, all vying for the top positions of governance.

For the US Congress race, there were four (4) candidates this year — all women — a probable first for American Samoa. They are incumbent Uifa’atau Aumua Amata, Luisa Kuaea, Meleage Chapman, and Fualaau Lancaster. Kuaea is new to the local political arena, while Chapman and Lancaster have vied for the seat against incumbent Uifa’atau Amata in previous races. While Uifa’atau has Republican roots, she does not run as a Republican in the local election because as noted, American Samoa does not have establish political parties with which teams or individuals affiliate to vote.

For unofficial results, Samoa News viewed KVZK-TV as they arrived and were announced. The count went pass midnight, as the villages of Pago Pago, Nuuuli and Tafuna were some of the last to be tabulated for a final count, while the Swains Island and Manu’a results were some of the first to be announced.

In Manu’a —V&T led the count, followed by L&L, while P&P trailed. The referendum for the override veto count was defeated in Manu’a. Amata again resoundingly took Manu’a, while newcomer Kuaea came in second, far outpacing both Chapman and Lancaster.

Heading into the island of Tutuila, no surprises were in store for Amata as her numbers continued to stack up against her opposition, for a landslide, in which she can positively state that she did not lose in any district.

However, she did lose in one group of voters — the Swains Island, with Amata getting 3 votes, Kuaea 5, Lancaster 1, and Chapman 0. They also voted yes for the override veto 4 to 2.

For the gubernatorial race, V&T never picked up the numbers they were able to generate in Manu’a again, with L&L and P&P ballots competing for the lead in each district on the island of Tutuila.

Around midnight, with only 4 districts left to complete their counts, P&P had a narrow lead over L&L — Samoa News had a loose (keep in mind it’s ‘unofficial’) count of +250 votes for P&P. And what kept people up was the anticipation of the drop of the ballot counts from the villages Pago Pago, Nuuuli, and Tafuna, which together are the most populous areas in American Samoa.

The final count did not disappoint with its wow factor, with Tualauta delivering 1032 votes to P&P and 682 to L&L, while Pago Pago village voted 472 to P&P v.s 200 to L&L. Ituau district did deliver the votes to L&L — 427 to 379. But it just wasn’t enough to pull them ahead.

The final unofficial count is 3660/ 36.2% for L&L; 4284/ 42.4% for P&P; and, 2169/ 21.4% for V&T.

The law calls for a run-off if no one gets 51% of the vote, and the Election Commissioner, Uiagalelei Lealofi Uiagalelei has announced that a run-off between the two top vote earners is scheduled for Nov. 19, 2024 —  between Lemanu P.S. Mauga and Laapui Talauega E.V. Ale and Pulaalii Nikolao Pula and Pulu Ae Ae, Jr.

According to the law, challenges may be filed contesting the race within a specific time period. And don’t forget, the count must be made official by the Election Commissioner.

Amata has won her US Congress seat with 74.8% of the vote — that’s 7394 ballots cast for her.

Congratulations to Congresswoman Uifa’atau Aumua Amata.