Paul McDonald Calvo

Paul Calvo
Calvo in the Oval Office, 1981
3rd Governor of Guam
In office January 1, 1979 – January 3, 1983
Lieutenant	Joseph Franklin Ada
Preceded by	Ricardo Bordallo
Succeeded by	Ricardo Bordallo
Senator of the Guam Legislature
In office January 4, 1971 (1971-Jan-04) – January 6, 1975 (1975-Jan-06)
Personal details
Born	Paul McDonald Calvo (1934-07-25)July 25, 1934 Agana, Guam
Died	October 16, 2024(2024-10-16) (aged 90) Mongmong-Toto-Maite, Guam
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Rose Baza Calvo
Children	8; including Eddie
Education	Santa Clara University (BS)

Paul McDonald Calvo (July 25, 1934 – October 16, 2024) was a Guamanian politician who served as the 3rd Governor of Guam from 1979 to 1983. Before his accession to the governorship, Calvo served in the Guam Legislature from 1971 to 1975. He was a member of the Republican Party of Guam.

Early life

Calvo was born in Agaña, Guam, and was the eldest son of Eduardo "Jake" Torres Calvo (1909–1963) and Veronica Mariano McDonald (1913–2009). His only two brothers and two sisters-in-law are Edward (1936–2004), Thomas (1940–2015) and Frances Matias Calvo. His paternal grandparents were Attorney Don Tomas Anderson Calvo and Doña Regina Martinez Torres. His maternal grandparents were John Francis McDonald and Dolores Mariano. He attended George Washington High School in Guam. He then attended the Peacock Military Academy and Santa Clara University.

Political career

He embarked on a business career in his family's insurance company in 1958, and entered politics during the 1960s as a member of the Republican Party. He was elected as a senator in the Legislature of Guam in 1965, and during his three terms in the body served as chair of the government Committee on Finance and Taxation and parliamentary leader of the Republican Party. Calvo was elected governor in 1978, and served until 1982.

Calvo-Palomo Campaign (1974)

Calvo teamed up with Senator Tony Palomo to challenge the incumbents, Gov. Carlos Camacho and Lt. Gov. Kurt Moylan. The Calvo-Palomo ticket's attacks on the administration included charges of corruption and favoritism, and the primary election was so close – Camacho-Moylan won by only 261 votes – that Calvo-Palomo decided to run as a write-in team for the general election. While Calvo-Palomo lost in the general election, they forced a runoff election to be held between Camacho-Moylan and the Democratic team of Ricardo J. Bordallo and Rudy Sablan. Camacho-Moylan lost the runoff, and afterward Carlos Camacho retired from politics and gave control of the Republican Party to Calvo.

Governorship (1979–1983)

During his first year as governor, Calvo reduced the government of Guam's deficit by $27 million, but the deficit continued to climb for the rest of his term due mainly to long-standing problems with tax collections.

Guam's economy began to regain health under Calvo's administration, as he sought to attract new businesses to Guam, including a tuna-fishing fleet, a garment manufacturer, and hotel construction. Visitor arrivals also registered sharp increases.

But Calvo's term as governor was marred by the teacher's strike of 1981, which lasted many months and caused deep divisions in Guam's education system. He lost to Bordallo-Reyes Campaign in the 1982 election and decided to retire from politics. Although he never ran for office thereafter, Calvo remained strongly influential in Republican politics, as its senior statesman, and his son Eddie Baza Calvo was one of the most popular senators in I Liheslaturan Guåhan/the Guam Legislature and was elected governor of Guam in 2010 along with running mate Ray Tenorio.

Personal life and death

Calvo's wife was Rose Baza Calvo. They had eight children. Calvo's son Eddie Calvo, is a politician and former Governor of Guam.

Calvo died at his home in Mongmong-Toto-Maite, Guam, on October 16, 2024, at the age of 90.

Electoral history

1974 Republican gubernatorial primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Carlos G. Camacho/Kurt S. Moylan	5,633	51.36%
	Republican	Paul M. Calvo/Antonio M. Palomo	5,335	48.64%

1978 Guam gubernatorial general election results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Paul M. Calvo/Joseph F. Ada	13,649	52.12%
	Democratic	Ricardo J. Bordallo/Pedro C. Sanchez	12,540	47.88%

1982 Guam gubernatorial general election results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ricardo J. Bordallo/Edward Diego Reyes	15,199	52.42%
	Republican	Paul M. Calvo/Peter F. Perez Jr.	13,797	47.58%

External links

• Paul M. Calvo at Guampedia.com
• Paul McDonald Calvo at nga.org