Denita Yangetmai is a Democratic member of the Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives, representing District 3 (Saipan and the Northern Islands). Yangetmai was first elected in November 2020 and took office on January 11, 2021, at the start of the 22nd Commonwealth Legislature. Re-election followed in 2022 and again in 2024, when Yangetmai won a third term in the six-member Precinct 3 delegation.1
Yangetmai, whose full name is Denita Piafur Kaipat Yangetmai, is a graduate of Mount Carmel School on Saipan and holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration. Before entering the legislature, Yangetmai worked as a classroom teacher in the CNMI Public School System and was active in community advocacy. Yangetmai is a daughter of Benusto Rogolifoi Kaipat, a longtime figure in the commonwealth’s Democratic Party and in the Refaluwasch (Carolinian) community, and on taking office was the only Refaluwasch woman serving in the 22nd Legislature.
In the House, Yangetmai has been closely associated with cannabis policy. As chair of the Committee on Cannabis in the 22nd Legislature, Yangetmai presided over the panel’s review of proposed amendments to the commonwealth’s 2018 cannabis law, including a measure dealing with how the Cannabis Commission collects and spends its regulatory fees. Yangetmai has also chaired the House committee covering commerce and tourism, and in the 24th Legislature again chairs the Committee on Cannabis. Yangetmai has also served as a CNMI representative to the Association of Pacific Island Legislatures.
