[2][3] Tuitele then served as an Associate Justice of the High Court of American Samoa until his retirement from the bench in 2011 to pursue a gubernatorial bid in 2012.
[3] However, Malae, who was serving as the Director of the Northern Marianas Commonwealth Utility Corporation at the time, was forced to withdraw from the race in October 2011 and return to his position in the Northern Mariana Islands[5] Malae had announced his resignation from utility to pursue the 2012 election, but his potential successor as Director was unacceptable to U.S. federal authorities.
[6] Save Liuato Tuitele, who had been Malae's running mate before he dropped out of the race, decided to pursue his own candidacy for Governor of American Samoa.
[3] King Young, who served as the acting Director of the Office of Insular Affairs under President Bill Clinton, is the founder and CEO of the Pacific Islands Center for Educational Development.
[7] The motion to dismiss their candidacies was heard by the High Court of American Samoa,[8] which turned down the petition, allowing all candidates to remain in the election.