WTJX has a page dedicated to Decision 2010 and it’s really worth checking out. I saw a post this morning that WTJX will be streaming a Gubernatorial Debate tonight on WTJX.org. I can only assume it will appear on broadcast television as well.
It’s come to my attention that a lot of people don’t seem to understand what happens when a government employee decides to run for office. This much is true: once cannot actively seek public office and work for the government at the same time. However, this does not warrant the employee to resign from their job. Nor are they terminated. Under Title 18, Chapter 1, Section 2 of the VI Code government employees are required to take a leave of absence from work. The text reads as follows:
§ 2. Eligibility of government personnel for public office
Persons employed in the legislative, executive or judicial branches of the Government of the United States Virgin Islands shall be eligible for nomination as candidates for public office but any such person who becomes a candidate for public office shall be granted and shall take a leave of absence from his governmental duties from the date of the filing of his nomination petition or paper until the date of the ensuing general election, unless the person is a candidate at a primary election who fails to be nominated, in which case the person’s leave of absence may terminate immediately after the primary. Persons becoming candidates may use accrued annual leave in taking such leave of absence. Persons who have no accrued annual leave shall take leave without pay but without prejudice to seniority or other employment rights. This section does not apply to Government employees who become candidates for party offices or serve as party officers, to candidates for the Board of Education, or candidates for the Board of Elections for the Virgin Islands, as provided for under section 41 of chapter 3 of this title, except that no employee or official of the office of the Supervisor of Elections and no employee of a Board of Elections may be a candidate for a Board of Elections without taking leave as required by this section, and if elected, may not serve as an employee or official, as the case may be, during his incumbency. Persons becoming candidates may use accrued or accumulated annual leave or sick leave in taking such leave of absence, however, sick leave may not be used in the absence of such certification of sickness as is required by the Government pursuant to Title 3, section 583, subsection (b) of the Code. Persons taking such leave of absence who have no accrued or accumulated annual leave shall do so without pay but without prejudice to seniority or other employment rights. This section shall not apply to Government employees becoming candidates for party offices or serving as party officers, to candidates for the Virgin Islands Board of Education, as provided for under section 97 of Title 3 of the Virgin Islands Code, or candidates for the Board of Elections for the Virgin Islands, as provided for under section 41 of Title 18 of such Code, except that no employee or official of the Department of Education and no employee of the Board of Education may be a candidate for the Board of Education and no employee or official of the office of the Supervisor of Elections and no employee of a board of election may be a candidate for a board of elections without taking leave as required by this section; and if elected may not serve as an employee or official, as the case may be during his incumbency.
It was discovered by the Board of Elections that At-Large Senatorial candidate Gilmore Estrill, Sr. is not eligible for the seat. Currently there are several conflicting residency requirements for being a candidate:
By law, the at-large candidate must live on St. John, although he or she is elected by voters from all three islands.
The Board of Elections has conflicting information on the residency requirement. Abramson said the candidate must live on St. John for 90 days before the election. That is also the requirement to register to vote in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
However, the board’s website indicates anyone running for senator must live in the territory for at least five consecutive years before the election. It does not address how long an at-large candidate must live on St. John.
The V.I. Code, accessed through the legal resource website, www.michie.com, indicates that senators must live in the district in which they are running for at least three consecutive years before the election. Additionally, the at-large senator must live on St. John for at least three consecutive years.
Mr. Estrill was disqualified though because the VI Code trumps all. Although Mr. Estrill has lived in the territory for three consecutive years, he has not lived on St. John long enough to fulfill the three year requirement.
As such, I’ll be removing Mr. Estrill’s name from my list of candidates.
I’ve got a hold of the final list of candidates for USVI Election 2010. I’m still working on getting all the links. Remember, if you know of website links for any of the candidates please share. Also note that unless I come across a specific campaign site I’m going to link incumbent senators to the Legislature of the US Virgin Islands website.
Territorywide
Governor
Adlah Donastorg, Jr. http://donastorg2010.com/(D)
John deJongh, Jr. http://dejonghfrancis2010.com/(D)
Gerard Luz James II http://jamessmithforvi.com/ (D)
Kenneth Mapp http://kenmapp.com/ (no party)
James O’Bryan http://obryansamuel2010.info/(D)
Senator-at-large
Craig Barshinger http://www.barshinger.net/(D)
Ronnie Jones (D)
Lorelei Monsanto (no party)
Alecia Wells (no party)
Delegate to Congress
Donna Christensen http://www.donnachristensen.house.gov/ (D)
Vince Danet http://www.vincedanet.org/ (R)
Jeffrey Moorhead (no party)
St. Thomas-St. John District
Senator
Democrat
Kent Bernier, Sr. http://www.kentbernier.com
Simon Caines http://www.simoncaines.com
Moses Carty, Sr.
Carlton Dowe http://www.legvi.org/
Louis Hill http://www.legvi.org/
Stedman Hodge, Jr
Shawn-Michael Malone http://www.legvi.org/
Janette Millin Young http://millinyoung.voterspace.com
Allron Monsanto
Clarence Payne
Patricia Thompson
Patrick Simeon Sprauve http://www.legvi.org/
Alvin Williams, Jr. http://www.legvi.org/
ICM
Wayne Adams
Stephen Frett
No party
Paul Alexander
Horace Brooks
Dwane Callwood
Raphael Corneiro
Elvin Fahie, Sr. http://gotthope.com/
Joseph Gumbs
Tregenza Roach
Shirley Sadler
Delores Todmann
Celestino White, Sr. http://www.legvi.org/
Darryl Williams, Sr.
Lisa Williams
Board of Elections
Democrat
Marvin Blyden
Kyza Callwood
Harry Daniel
Eduardo Carmona, Sr.
Claudette Georges
Jerry Meyers
Wilma Monsanto
Ivy Moses
Arturo Watlington, Jr.
ICM
Albion Lambertis
Nandi Sekou
No Party
Lydia Hendricks
St. Croix District
Senator
Democrat
Diane Capehart
Pedro Cruz
Neville James http://www.legvi.org/
Wayne James http://www.legvi.org/
Troy Mason
Brad Nugent http://www.nugentforsenate.org
Verdel Petersen
Ronald Russell
Sammuel Sanes http://www.legvi.org/
Michael Thurland http://www.legvi.org/
James Weber III
Sherryann Wiltshire
No party
Myron Allick
Samuel Flemming
Judi Fricks http://viontherun.com/
Norman JnBaptiste
Wayne Petersen
Nereida Rivera-O’Reilly http://oreilly.usvisenate.org/
Lee Seward Jr.
Michael Springer, Jr. http://cruciansinfocus.com
Alicia Hansen
ICM
Naomi Joseph
George Moore
Usie Richards http://www.legvi.org/
Terrence Nelson http://www.legvi.org/
Kendall Petersen
Board of Elections
Democrat
Barbara McIntosh
Marion Petersen
Adelbert Bryan
Jacqueline Heyliger
Roberto James
Andrew John
Conrad Knowles
Rupert Ross
ICM
Diana James
No party
Epiphane Joseph
*****************
A list with contact information is available here.
Yesterday was the candidate’s last day to turn in their nomination petitions. Today is YOUR day. This is the last day you can register to vote. Trust me when I say that every vote counts. Don’t believe me? Take a look at this story.
I realize my list has been moving at a snail’s pace, but that’s mostly because every time I looked around more people were picking up petitions and people were dropping out of the race. After today that won’t be a problem. At 5pm today the Board of Elections will no longer be accepting Nomination Petitions. This means that hopefully tomorrow I’ll have access to the final list of who will be running in the elections this year.
In the mean time, please keep sending me those websites as you find them. Unfortunately I had to miss the Elections Expo last Saturday but I know several of you were out and about collecting info. Please share.
If you haven’t visited the Election System of the Virgin Islands website in a while I’ve got two good reasons why you should check it out today.
Sen. Terrence “Positive” Nelson has recently announced that he is dropping his bid to be Governor of the US Virgin Islands and is instead seeking another term in the USVI Legislature. He cited not being able to find a suitable running mate in time to mount a campaign. I’m actually a little disappointed. I’d have liked to see every political party in the territory field a candidate for the top job. There’s no Republican candidate and with Nelson’s withdrawal there’s now no Independent Citizen’s Movement (ICM) candidate. This race will come down to one Democratic team vs. Independents.
m trying to create a one-post resource for the 2010 Virgin Islands Elections. I’ve compiled a list of the potential candidates in both districts and what I’m trying to do is link all their names to their websites. So far I’ve only got a few but with time I hope to finish most of this list. You can help too. If you know the website address for any of the candidates I don’t have linked you can either post it in the comment sections on the Facebook side, reply to this post directly or email them to me at hector@islands.vi. Here we go!
Territorywide
Governor
Adlah Donastorg Jr. http://donastorg2010.com/(D)
John deJongh Jr. http://dejonghfrancis2010.com/(D)
Gerard Luz James II (D)
Kenneth Mapp http://kenmapp.com/ (no party)
James O’Bryan (D)
Senator-at-large
Craig Barshinger http://www.barshinger.net/(D)
Gilmore Estrill Sr. (D)
Ronnie Jones (D)
Lorelei Monsanto (no party)
Alecia Wells (no party)
Delegate to Congress
Donna Christensen http://www.donnachristensen.house.gov/ (D)
Vince Danet http://www.vincedanet.org/ (R)
Jeffrey Moorhead (no party)
St. Thomas-St. John District
Senator
Democrat
Kent Bernier Sr. http://www.kentbernier.com
Simon Caines http://www.simoncaines.com
Moses Carty, Sr.
Carlton Dowe
Louis Hill
Stedman Hodge Jr
Shawn-Michael Malone
Janette Millin Young http://millinyoung.voterspace.com
Allron Monsanto
Clarence Payne
Patricia Thompson
Patrick Simeon Sprauve
Alvin Williams Jr.
ICM
Wayne Adams
Stephen Frett
No party
Paul Alexander
Horace Brooks
Dwane Callwood
Raphael Corneiro
Elvin Fahie Sr.
Joseph Gumbs
Tregenza Roach
Delores Todmann
Celestino White, Sr.
Darryl Williams, Sr.
Lisa Williams
Board of Elections
Democrat
Marvin Blyden
Kyza Callwood
Harry Daniel
Eduardo deCarmona Sr.
Claudette Georges
Jerry Meyers
Wilma Monsanto
Ivy Moses
Arturo Watlington Jr.
ICM
Albion Lambertis
Nandi Sekou
No Party
Lydia Hendricks
St. Croix District
Senator
Democrat
Diane Capehart
Pedro Cruz
Neville James
Wayne James
Troy Mason
Brad Nugent http://www.nugentforsenate.org
Verdel Petersen
Ronald Russell
Sammuel Sanes
Michael Thurland
James Weber III
Sherryann Wiltshire
No party
Myron Allick
Samuel Flemming
Judi Fricks
Norman JnBaptiste
Wayne Petersen
Nereida Rivera-O’Reilly http://oreilly.usvisenate.org/
Lee Seward Jr.
Michael Springer Jr. http://cruciansinfocus.com
Alicia Hansen
ICM
Naomi Joseph
George Moore
Usie Richards
Terrence Nelson
Kendall Petersen
Board of Elections
Democrat
Barbara McIntosh
Marion Petersen
Adelbert Bryan
Jacqueline Heyliger
Roberto James
Andrew John
Conrad Knowles
Rupert Ross
ICM
Diana James
No party
Epiphane Joseph
I thought this was cute. Enjoy. 
If a Republican doesn’t like marijuana, he tries to criminalize it.
If a Democrat doesn’t like marijuana, he doesn’t buy or use it.
If a Republican isn’t a homosexual, he tries to criminalize homosexuality.
If a Democrat isn’t a homosexual, he doesn’t engage in it.
If a Republican doesn’t like what’s on TV, he complains to the FCC.
If a Democrat doesn’t like what’s on TV, he changes the channel.
If a Republican thinks getting an abortion is immoral, he tries to criminalize it.
If a Democrat thinks getting an abortion is immoral, she won’t get one.
If a Republican believes in God, he demands that everybody believes only in his God.
If a Democrat believes in God, he respects other people’s faiths.
If a Republican wants his children to go to a better school, he wants a government voucher system so they can go to a different school.
If a Democrat wants his children to go to a better school, he tries to improve his neighborhood school.
If a Republican likes guns, he ignores the first thirteen words of the Second Amendment and demand the ability to have a loaded concealed automatic weapon in a crowd to see the Prez .
If a Democrat likes guns, he buys a gun and only uses it when necessary.
If a Republican is a victim of a disaster, he demands that the local, state and federal governments help save him.and complains about big government
If a Democrat is a victim of a disaster, he tries to help others worse off.
If a Republican reads this, he’ll delete it because he can’t believe any of these things are bad.
If a Democrat reads this, he’ll forward it because he knows that Conservatives want everybody to be just like him.
**********Update 7/31/10************
Lo and behold there’s also a Republican version with this. Equally funny. Thanks Scott (by the way, I omitted the last line…it was over the top 
).
If a Republican doesn’t like guns, he doesn’t buy one.
If a Democrat doesn’t like guns, he wants all guns outlawed.
If a Republican is a vegetarian, he doesn’t eat meat.
If a Democrat is a vegetarian, he wants all meat products banned for e…veryone.
If a Republican is homosexual, he quietly leads his life.
If a Democrat is homosexual, he demands legislated respect.
If a Republican is down-and-out, he thinks about how to better his situation.
A Democrat wonders who is going to take care of him.
If a Republican doesn’t like a talk show host, he switches channels.
Democrats demand that those they don’t like be shut down.
If a Republican is a non-believer, he doesn’t go to church.
A Democrat non-believer wants any mention of God and religion silenced.
If a Republican decides he needs health care, he goes about shopping for it, or may choose a job that provides it.
A Democrat demands that the rest of us pay for his.
If a Republican is concerned with oil dependence, he limits his energy use and looks
for alternative energy sources.
A Democrat will demand that no one use any oil.
If a Republican reads this, he’ll forward it so his friends can have a good laugh.
A Democrat will delete it and say it’s racist because he’s “offended”.
He is Mike and together with other 100 people, he prefers to reed my feed (?). Subscribe!
