Nov. 16, 2002 – When tabulation of the absentee ballots was completed Saturday evening, the results from the Nov. 5 vote tallies were unchanged. Gov. Charles W. Turnbull held on to his majority, meaning there will be no runoff election on Tuesday. And in the Senate, incumbents Adelbert M. Bryan, Donald "Ducks" Cole and Norma Pickard-Samuel lost their bids for re-election.
Five of the 15 members of the 25th Legislature will be newcomers:
– Louis Hill and Shawn-Michael Malone in the St. Thomas-St. John district, replacing Cole and Pickard-Samuel, who finished eighth and ninth, respectively. Malone led Cole by 50 votes; Cole indicated Saturday that he would not seek a recount.
– Luther Renee, Ronald Russell and Raymond "Usie" Richards in the St. Croix district, replacing Bryan, who finished eighth; Alicia "Chucky" Hansen, who ran unsuccessfully for governor; and Vargrave Richards, who ran successfully for lieutenant governor on the Democratic ticket with Turnbull.
At his campaign headquarters on St. Thomas, Turnbull told WVWI Radio on Saturday night, "Despite all the opposition, the people have spoken, and I will not let them down."
An unprecedented eight candidates ran for governor. Had the final tally shown Turnbull with less than a majority (or 50 percent plus one) of the total votes cast, he would have faced second-place finisher John de Jongh in a runoff election on Tuesday. De Jongh picked up 237 votes in the absentee balloting, ending up with 24.63 percent of the total.
"God in his glory has given us the victory," Turnbull said. "I will continue to serve the people as best I can." He said he was happy that the Democratic Party also won a majority in the Senate and extended an olive branch to those who ran against him. "I want to work with all the other challengers," he said. "I want to work with the Legislature. I believe that, with God's help, four more years will be four more great years for the people."
Turnbull picked up an additional 547 votes in the absentee ballots — 358 cast for him plus 12 for the straight Democratic ticket on St. Thomas and 177 on St. Croix. That put his total at 17,545, which gave him 50.15 percent of the vote.
James O'Bryan, a Turnbull aide and chair of the V.I. Democratic Party, said the governor needed to pick up 504 absentee voted to secure his re-election.
The absentee tallies also confirmed the victories of Donna M. Christian in her bid for re-election as the territory's delegate to Congress and of Almando "Rocky" Liburd as senator-at-large.
The election results still must be certified by the Joint Boards of Elections in order to become official. John Abramson Jr., supervisor of elections, said the boards have five days after tabulating the absentee votes in which to certify the final results, and he expects they will do so by Wednesday.
With the absentee votes added to those cast at polling places on Nov. 5, the unofficial results are as follow. To compare the final figures with the Nov. 5 results, see "Unofficial results of 2002 general elections.
Governor/Lieutenant Governor
Charles W. Turnbull/Vargrave Richards (Democrat) — 17,545, or 50.15 percent
John de Jongh Jr./Paul Arnold (independent) — 8,618, or 24.63 percent
Alicia "Chucky" Hansen/Thomas "Eddie" Donoghue (independent) — 2,715, or 7.76 percent
Michael Bornn/Arnold M. Golden (Republican) — 2,513, or 7.18 percent
Gerard Luz James II/Maryleen Thomas (independent) — 1,775, or 5.07 percent
Cora Christian/George Hodge Jr. (independent) — 1,070, or 3.06 percent
Lloyd Williams/K. Gonzalez Jr. (independent) — 519, or 1.48 percent
H.E."Ike" Williams/J. Marius (independent) — 106, or 0.30 percent
Write-ins — 122, or 0.35 percent
Senate, St. Thomas-St. John district
(The 9 candidates who, based on the Nov. 5 results, could have finished in the top 7)
Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg (independent) — 9,106
Carlton Dowe (independent) — 7,809
Celestino White Sr. (independent) — 6,859
Roosevelt David (Democrat) — 6,757
Lorraine Berry (Democrat) — 6,750
Louis Hill (Democrat) — 6,640
Shawn-Michael Malone (Democrat) — 6,205
Donald "Ducks" Cole (independent) — 6,155
Norma Pickard-Samuel (independent) — 5,633
Senate, St. Croix district
(The 10 candidates who, based on the Nov. 5 results, could have finished in the top 7)
Douglas Canton Jr.(Democrat) — 6,723
Luther Renee (Democrat) — 6,589
Norman Jn Baptiste (independent) — 6,327
David Jones (Democrat) — 6,219
Ronald Russell (Democrat) — 6,040
Emmett Hansen Jr. (independent) — 5,626
Raymond "Usie" Richards (ICM) — 5,558
Adelbert M. Bryan (ICM) — 5,423
Juan Figueroa-Serville (Democrat) — 5,131
Ophelia "Nemmy" Williams-Felix (Democrat) — 4,905
Delegate to Congress
Donna M. Christensen (Democrat) — 19,484
Virdin C. Brown (ICM) — 4,321
Lilliana Belardo de O'Neal (Republican) — 4,163
Garry Sprauve (independent) — 953
Senate, at-Large
Almando "Rocky" Liburd (ICM) — 12,514
Craig Barshinger (Democrat) — 10,526
Wilma Marsh Monsanto (Republican) — 2,795
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