Felix Perez Camacho

Felix James Pérez Camacho (born October 30, 1957) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 7th Governor of Guam from 2003 to 2011.

Born into the Camacho family, his father, Carlos Camacho, served as the 1st Governor of Guam from 1969 to 1975.

Camacho unsuccessfully ran for Governor again in the 2022 Guamanian election, losing to incumbent Democrat Lou Leon Guerrero.

Camacho was born in Camp Zama, a U.S. military base in Japan.

Camacho's father was Carlos Camacho.

Camacho's mother was Lourdes Perez Camacho.

He was raised in Tamuning, Guam, and was educated in the Catholic school system.

Camacho's father became Guam's last appointed governor in 1969, and subsequently became the first elected governor in 1971.

In 1980, Camacho received a degree in business administration and finance from Marquette University.

Camacho has held positions with Pacific Financial Corporation as an insurance manager, and with IBM as an account administrator.

In March 1988, Governor Joseph Franklin Ada appointed him as deputy director of the Public Utility Agency of Guam, and he was chosen to be the executive director of the department later that year.

In 1992, Camacho was elected as senator in the 22nd Guam Legislature, and was subsequently re-elected in 1994 and 1996.

As a senator, he served as chairman of the Committee on Tourism, Transportation, and Economic Development.

He also served as a majority whip.

A member of the Republican Party of Guam, he had previously served as a six-term senator in the Guam Legislature from 1993 to 2003.

In 1998, Camacho was the running mate of Joseph Ada in the hotly-contested gubernatorial campaign.

Their loss resulted in Camacho's absence from public office for the next two years.

Having won in the 2000 legislative election, Camacho returned to the legislature and regained his chairmanship, as well as the position of assistant majority leader.

In 2002, Camacho teamed up with fellow senator, Kaleo Moylan, to run for the positions as Guam's governor and lieutenant governor, respectively.

On August 31, 2002, Camacho-Moylan went on to defeat Speaker Antonio “Tony” Unpingco in the Republican primary election.

Additionally, Camacho-Moylan’s campaign for the general election ran successfully against Democratic contenders Guam Delegate Congressman Robert A. Underwood, and his running mate, Senator Thomas "Tom" C. Ada.

On December 8, 2002, Guam was slammed by Super Typhoon Pongsona, shortly after Camacho and Moylan were elected into office.

They opted not to have a formal inaugural celebration, due to the state of the island.

The duo instead chose to be sworn in with a ceremony at the Plaza de España at midnight, after a celebratory mass at the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral Basilica in Hagåtña—all under candle light.

Typhoon Pogsona occurred just six months after the island had been devastated by Typhoon Chataan, and left the citizens of Guam reeling from the aftermath.

Widespread damage affected facilities and structures in both the public and private sectors, which included: hospitals, schools, Guam International Airport, the Port of Guam, hotels, businesses, and hundreds of homes.

The damages were estimated at $246 million by the Federal Emergency Management Agency-the largest natural disaster in US history, holding that record until Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Fuel tanks at the Cabras Island caught on fire making it unsafe for ships to come into the harbor.

The Guam Telephone Authority and A.B. Won Pat International Airport were also shut down for a time.

Soon, though, approximately 10,000 tourists who had been on Guam since before the storm were able to go home.

Camacho and his administration worked on getting the power, water, communications and transportation systems running again, as well as re-opening the island’s schools and getting assistance to people with typhoon damaged homes and businesses.

Tourism went down to a minimum and the government was essentially bankrupt.

Camacho led the effort to restore the island to normalcy, along with much help from the government of Guam, federal government, the military, the business community and the resilient citizens.

Three months later island leaders let potential visitors know that the island was ready to welcome them again and tourism rebounded.

The Camacho Administration had other challenges to governing Guam as well.

Due to various disagreements with Moylan during their first term, Camacho picked freshman senator Michael Cruz, M.D. as his running mate in 2006.

Camacho again defeated Robert A. Underwood (this time with senator Frank Aguon Jr. as running mate) to win the governorship for a second term.

In 2016 he ran against Democratic incumbent Madeleine Bordallo to represent Guam's at-large congressional district, but was defeated 53% to 47%.

Camacho launched his campaign again for the 2022 Republican nomination for governor of Guam with senator Tony Ada as his running mate in February 2022.

He was defeated in the general election by incumbent Democratic Governor Lou Leon Guerrero.