John Paul Sablan is an independent member of the Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives, representing District 2 (Saipan). Sablan, whose full name is John Paul Palacios Sablan, was first elected in the November 2012 general election as a Covenant Party candidate, finishing first in the race for the district’s two seats, and took office in January 2013. Sablan has won re-election in every House election since then and began a seventh consecutive term in January 2025.1
After the Covenant Party merged into the Republican Party, Sablan ran as a Republican before leaving the party and winning re-election as an independent. District 2 is a two-member district on Saipan that includes the villages of Susupe and Chalan Kanoa and neighboring communities.
Sablan has held several leadership posts in the Legislature. Sablan served as House floor leader in the 21st Commonwealth Legislature and has chaired the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation, the body of Saipan’s House and Senate members that considers local legislation for the island, including during the 23rd Legislature; in December 2024 the delegation again chose Sablan as its chair. In the 24th Legislature, which began in January 2025, Sablan also chairs the House Committee on Ways and Means, the panel responsible for revenue and tax legislation.
