Oct. 6, 2006 — "John deJongh has led in every poll I did from April 2005, and I have consistently said the race is his to lose." That's the conclusion of St. Croix pollster John Boyd, who issued his latest poll numbers on the governor's race Friday.
Noting that gubernatorial candidate deJongh and running mate Gregory Francis have "run a very clean campaign and avoided mistakes," Boyd believes deJongh has the inside track to Government House with a month to go to the Nov. 7 election.
Considering Boyd's latest numbers, it's hard to argue otherwise.
In separate polls conducted on Sept. 22 and Sept. 29, deJongh's support in the St. Croix district is holding steady at 46 percent; while on St. Thomas/St. John, deJongh's numbers swelled from 48 percent to 57 percent. "He's [deJongh] very definitely gaining ground in St. Thomas," Boyd said.
The same can't be said for either of deJongh's opponents. While the team of Kenneth Mapp and former Sen. Almando "Rocky" Liburd are holding steady with support on St. Croix — 20 percent (9/22) and 19 percent (9/29) — their numbers have slipped on St. Thomas, from 16 percent (9/22) to 11 percent (9/29).
Meanwhile the team of Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg and Cora Christian are holding steady on both islands: 10 percent on St. Croix (both weeks); and 12 percent (9/22) and 11 percent (9/29) on St. Thomas.
After eliminating undecided voters, Boyd's results are even more lopsided in favor of deJongh: on St. Croix, support for deJongh holds steady at 61 percent, while on St. Thomas, his support grows from 63 percent to 72 percent.
After eliminating undecided voters, Mapp/Liburd holds steady on St. Croix at 26 percent (9/22) and 25 percent (9/29); while falling off on St. Thomas, from 21 percent to 14 percent. Meanwhile the Donastorg/Christian team is a distant third, holding steady at 13 percent on St. Croix; and relatively steady on St. Thomas at 16 percent (9/22) and 14 percent (9/29).
Boyd also covered the delegate's race. The results show incumbent Donna M. Christensen leading St. Croix businessman Warren Mosler by about a two-to-one margin on St. Croix and closer to a three-to-one margin on St. Thomas.
Boyd said he likes to focus on the issues that are important to voters, adding that since April 2005 he has been asking open-ended questions about what those issues are. According to Boyd, the top four are crime, education, the economy and roads.
Prior to the primary in September, Boyd said he had been hearing issues, such as family values and personal corruption, that had not made the list before. When added, they turn up at the bottom of the list of the 10 most important issues with personal and family corruption being No. 10. However, government corruption is ranked No. 4 on both St. Thomas and St. Croix. Other issues that Virgin Islanders consider important are jobs, tourism, health care, and youth programs.
About the poll
Boyd said he contacted about 150 people in each district each week. The total for both weeks was 299 for St. Croix and 307 for St. Thomas/St. John. He said there was no special effort made to contact respondents on St. John.
He said at the end of the poll, he determined if the respondents were registered voters. He did not include the results from those who weren't registered in the candidate results, but did include their answers in the issues section.
He said the poll was paid for by business people on both St. Thomas and St. Croix. He declined to give their names.
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