2008 Gubernatorial Candidacy
Utu Abe Malae announced the formation of an exploratory committee April 2008 to study the feasibility of a candidacy for Governor of American Samoa. The committee was made up of Malae's family, friends and supporters.
Malae fueled further speculation that he was planning a run for Governor when tendered his resignation as president of the Development Bank of American Samoa. He submitted a letter of resignation to the bank's board of directors on May 29, 2008. He left the bank thirty days later.
Malae officially announced his candidacy on June 10, 2008, for Governor of American Samoa in the 2008 gubernatorial election. He chose Nua Mailo Saoluaga, a former Speaker of the American Samoa House of Representatives who is from Manu'a, as his running mate for Lieutenant Governor. Malae filed his petition to run for governor at the American Samoa Election Office at 9:00 A.M. on June 10. He held his official gubernatorial announcement at the Maliu Mai Beach Resort later in the day.
In his announcement, Malae promised to make healthcare and education a top priority in a future Malae administration. He referred to these as the top two issues facing American Samoa today.
Malae faced incumbent Gov. Togiola Tulafono and two other candidates in the gubernatorial election on November 4, 2008. Tulafono received 41.3% of the vote to Malae's 31.4%. Because no candidate received more than 50% of the vote, a run-off election between Malae and Tulafono took place on November 18, 2008. Governor Tulafono defeated Malae to win a second, four-year term.
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