Introduction
Pedro "Teno" Pangelinan Tenorio (born April 18, 1934) is a Northern Mariana Islander politician who was the second and fifth elected Governor of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
With 12 years in office, Tenorio is the longest-serving Governor in CNMI history.
Biography
Tenorio was born on Saipan. He graduated from George Washington High School in Guam and attended the University of Guam. He has worked as a schoolteacher, a shipping executive, and a supervisor for a Naval technical and training unit. He first served in the House of Representatives of the Congress of Micronesia and subsequently became a member of the Marianas District Legislature. In 1978, when the Northern Mariana Islands became a U.S. commonwealth (CNMI), he was elected vice president of the Northern Mariana Islands Senate in the first commonwealth legislature and chairman of the Programs Committee. He was elected president of the senate in 1980. Sworn in as governor in 1982, he was reelected for a second term in 1985. He was elected Governor again in November 1997 and was inaugurated on January 12, 1998.