Christina-Marie E. Sablan, “Tina” to her many friends and supporters, is a daughter of the Marianas. Born on Saipan to parents Eugenio and Carmela Sablan, and raised in the villages of Tanapag and Chalan Kanoa, Tina has been active in public service for nearly twenty years in her various roles as a citizen, journalist, health and environmental advocate, U.S. congressional staffer, and CNMI lawmaker.
Her passionate concern for the quality of life in the Commonwealth came into focus while pursuing an undergraduate degree in Conservation Science from the College of Santa Fe. Tina later went on to earn a Master's in Urban and Regional Planning and a graduate certificate in Conflict Resolution from the University of Hawaii-Manoa.
Tina was first elected to the Northern Marianas Legislature in 2007, and again in 2018 and re-elected in 2020. She currently serves as Chair of the House Committee on Health and Welfare, and is also a member of the Committees on Ways and Means and Judiciary and Governmental Operations. During her tenure in the House of Representatives, Tina has championed legislation to restore the Earned Income Tax Credit to boost the incomes of the Commonwealth's working families (signed into law in June 2021), and authored or cosponsored bills to strengthen the CNMI Medicaid Agency, reform the medical referral program, update the CNMI's tobacco tax laws, establish protections against discrimination for LGBTQ people in the Marianas, enhance access to mental health care services, and increase funding for public education, healthcare, and critical social services.
Tina is an advocate for the Northern Marianas and sister territories at the national level as well: she currently serves on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Local Government Advisory Committee-Small Communities Advisory Subcommittee, advising the USEPA Administrator on policies affecting the territories. In July 2021, she testified before the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources, urging for equitable treatment of the territories in key federal programs such as Medicaid, SNAP, and SSI. Tina is also the National Committeewoman for the Democratic Party of the Northern Marianas.
