The 2026 primary election ballot taking shape following official ratification and a public drawing Thursday night. Nearly all candidates have made it on the ballot, with the exception of gubernatorial independent candidates Jeff Pleadwell and Charlie Hermosa.

The Guam Election Commission board ratified 44 candidates for the primary election ballot and held an exciting public ballot placement drawing Thursday night. But for one team vying for a seat in Adelup, the evening fell short of their expectations.

"We presumed that everything was fine and then we were notified, I think the following day, that we didn't qualify because over 400 of our signed petitions said 'Jeff' instead of 'Jeffrey'," said Pleadwell. "It was never the intent," added Hermosa. "We didn't deceive anybody when it came to getting those signatures."

The independent gubernatorial candidates failed to qualify for the ballot after coming up short of the required 500 signatures. They gathered over 800 signatures, but some 400 of them say 'Jeff' instead of his legal name 'Jeffrey,' which can't be validated under Guam law. But the candidates argue they should still be able to run.

"It was never the intent. I think when you look at the way the law was written, it was clearly written that nobody would falsify or at least pretend they were someone else when the petition was being transpired," Hermosa repeated. Pleadwell added, "I owned Pirate's Cove for 47 years. I'm known by 'Jeff.' 'Jeffrey,' hardly anybody calls me that. I think my girlfriend when she's mad at me, but other than that, I go by 'Jeff'."

GEC board chairman Jerry Crisostomo says the board will review their concerns during a special meeting. He acknowledges that while the commission received correspondence from the duo prior to the meeting, they were unable to add it to this meeting's agenda during the certification process due to the Open Government Law.

"Because the request for commission review was not timely available for the action item on this agenda today, the commission will schedule a special meeting to address your request for review," he said.

In the meantime, for other candidates, the night was a major step forward to the 2026 primaries, which are nearly all contested races.

The certified candidates include two Republican teams and three Democratic teams in the gubernatorial race, two Republicans and one Democrat for Congress. And 36 senatorial candidates, evenly split down the aisle.

REVIEW ALL THE PRIMARY ELECTION CANDIDATES