Representative Michael F. Q. San Nicolas

Michael Franklin Quitugua San Nicolas (born January 30, 1981) is a Guamanian Democratic Party politician who served as the delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives for Guam’s at-large congressional district from January 3, 2019, to January 3, 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Guam in the United States Congress for two terms during a significant period in American history, participating in the legislative process and advocating for the interests of his constituents. In the 116th United States Congress, his colleagues elected him to serve as vice chair of the House Committee on Financial Services, a prominent leadership role for a territorial delegate.

San Nicolas was born in Tamuning, Guam, and is the eldest son of Miguel Borja San Nicolas and Eva Quitugua San Nicolas of Talofofo, Guam, both long-time educators with the Guam Department of Education. He comes from a family with a deep record of public service. His paternal grandfather, Enrique Santos San Nicolas, served in the pre-Organic Act Guam Congress, and his maternal grandfather, Franklin Joseph Arceo Quitugua, served as Speaker of the Guam Legislature. He is also the great-grandson of Ignacio Perez Quitugua, who served in the 1st through 9th Guam Legislatures. This multigenerational legacy in Guam’s civic and political life helped shape his early interest in public affairs. In November 1998, as a youth speaker at a large rally during President Bill Clinton’s visit to Guam, San Nicolas introduced the President to the assembled crowd at Adelup, marking an early public appearance on the island’s political stage.

San Nicolas attended several secondary schools on Guam, including Father Dueñas Memorial School and John F. Kennedy High School, and graduated from Southern High School. While attending John F. Kennedy High School, he met his future wife, Kathryn Santos Ko; the couple married in 2005 and have two children. He went on to study history at the University of Guam, where he became deeply involved in student government and youth leadership. From 1998 to 2000, he served as Speaker of the 22nd Guam Youth Congress, and in the 2002–2003 academic year he was elected by his peers as President of the University of Guam Student Government Association. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from the University of Guam in 2004.

Before seeking elective office, San Nicolas gained experience in both government and the private sector. He served as chief of staff to Senator Carmen Fernandez in the 27th Guam Legislature, where he became familiar with legislative procedure and public policy issues affecting the territory. He later worked in the financial industry as an assistant vice president and financial adviser at the Bank of Guam, acquiring expertise in banking, finance, and investment matters that would later inform his legislative work, particularly on fiscal and economic issues.

San Nicolas first ran for the Guam Legislature as a Democrat in 2012. In the primary election he placed eighth with 6,570 votes, advancing to the general election, where he placed fifth with 16,625 votes and secured a seat in the 32nd Guam Legislature. He went on to serve three consecutive terms in the 32nd, 33rd, and 34th Guam Legislatures from 2013 to 2019. During his tenure, he chaired several key committees. In the 32nd Guam Legislature he chaired the committee on Aviation, Ground Transportation, Regulatory Concerns and Future Generations. In the 33rd Guam Legislature he chaired the Committee on Finance & Taxation, General Government Operations, and Youth Development. In the 34th Guam Legislature he initially chaired the Committee on Rules and later chaired the Committee on General Government Operations and Federal, Foreign, & Regional Affairs. His legislative work included efforts to expand social protections and reform government compensation. In March 2014 he introduced a bill to allow foster children to be included in the Government of Guam’s group health insurance, thereby expanding their treatment options; the bill was passed by the Guam Legislature on October 3, 2014. In May 2014 he introduced a resolution requesting that Guam’s then-delegate to Congress, Madeleine Z. Bordallo, introduce federal legislation to allow Government of Guam employees to be covered under Social Security; the resolution passed unanimously in June. In April 2015 he met with professionals at the Social Security Administration and with staff of Representative Xavier Becerra, then ranking member of the Subcommittee on Social Security, to explore a path to extending Social Security benefits to Government of Guam workers.

San Nicolas became particularly identified with efforts to address salary increases for elected and appointed officials in Guam. After the 2014 general election, acting Governor Ray Tenorio introduced a bill to increase salaries of elected and appointed officials retroactively; the bill was passed by the legislature in San Nicolas’s absence. In December 2014 he introduced a bill to repeal the raises, which failed, and he began donating the amount of his pay increase to local charities later that month. In 2015 he introduced legislation to repeal the pay raises and address related matters; although the bill was enacted, the specific repeal provision was removed before passage. He introduced another bill later in 2015 to repeal the raises, which initially failed in November, but was reconsidered and passed by the Guam Legislature in January 2016. Governor Eddie Calvo vetoed the measure, and an attempted veto override did not succeed. In 2017 he introduced another bill to reduce the salaries of elected and appointed officials that had been increased by Public Law 32-208. A similar measure, affecting only the salaries of the attorney general, public auditor, governor, lieutenant governor, and members of the Guam Legislature, was passed in March 2017, vetoed by Governor Calvo, and then overridden by the legislature in May 2017. He also focused on fiscal and regulatory issues, introducing Resolutions No. 63-34 (COR), 64-34 (COR), and 65-34 (COR) in 2017 to improve Section 30 tax collections, all of which were adopted, and Resolution No. 215-34 (COR) in 2017, requesting that the Federal Trade Commission review trade practices and market concentration in Guam’s fuel market; that resolution passed unanimously.

In November 2017, San Nicolas announced his intention to seek the Democratic nomination for Guam’s delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2018 general election. He challenged eight-term incumbent Delegate Madeleine Z. Bordallo in the August 2018 Democratic primary and defeated her by 3.4 percent of the vote, advancing to the November general election. In the general election he defeated Republican candidate Doris F. Brooks, becoming Guam’s at-large congressional delegate in the 116th Congress. He was sworn in on January 3, 2019. During his first term he was appointed to the House Committee on Financial Services and the House Committee on Natural Resources. Within Financial Services, he served on the Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship and Capital Markets and the Subcommittee on National Security, International Development and Monetary Policy. Within Natural Resources, he served on the Subcommittee on Indigenous Peoples of the United States and the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. On May 8, 2019, Chairwoman Maxine Waters announced that San Nicolas had been elected by committee members to serve as vice chair of the House Financial Services Committee, a notable leadership position for a territorial delegate.

San Nicolas was reelected in 2020 during the 117th Congress cycle. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Guam cancelled party primaries and all qualified candidates appeared on the November 3, 2020, general election ballot. In that three-way race, San Nicolas finished first against former delegate Robert A. Underwood, a Democrat, and Republican territorial senator Wil Castro, but did not secure an outright majority. A runoff election was held on November 17, 2020, in which San Nicolas defeated Underwood with more than 59 percent of the vote. During his second term, he continued to serve on the Financial Services and Natural Resources Committees. His tenure in Congress included a widely noted episode in March 2021, when, after Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene referred to Guam as a foreign country, he led members of the Guam National Guard to Greene’s office in the U.S. Capitol complex to highlight Guam’s status as a U.S. territory whose residents are American citizens. His service in Congress from 2019 to 2023 coincided with major national events, including the COVID-19 pandemic and related economic challenges, in which he participated in the broader legislative response while representing Guam’s particular needs.

Rather than seek reelection to Congress in 2022, San Nicolas ran for governor of Guam in the 2022 Guamanian gubernatorial election. He entered the Democratic primary but was unsuccessful in his bid, losing the nomination and thereby concluding his congressional service at the end of his second term on January 3, 2023. In February 2024, he announced his candidacy to return as Guam’s delegate in the November 2024 election. In the Democratic primary, he was set to face Ginger Cruz, environmental activist David Lotz, and Senator Amanda Shelton, signaling his continued engagement in Guam’s political life and his ongoing interest in federal representation for the territory.