Nov. 7, 2006 — In a surprise result, voters across the territory in Tuesday's general election picked Carmen M. Wesselhoft to be their senator at large over incumbent Sen. Craig Barshinger.
"I plan to treat each island equally, honestly and fairly," Wesselhoft said in a telephone interview from St. Croix.
Barshinger, who was also on St. Croix, conceded the election at approximately 9 p.m.
While Barshinger held an early lead with only a few polling places reporting, Wesselhoft pulled ahead of Barshinger at the 8:20 p.m. posting of unofficial results on the Board of Elections website. At that point she led with 50.2 percent of the vote, compared to Barshinger's 49.7 percent.
Her lead then increased throughout the night. When the final votes were tallied, she captured 54.8 percent, with 14,482 of the voters casting their votes in her favor. Barshinger came in with 45.1 percent, or 11,918 votes.
Wesselhoft, an Independent Citizens Movement candidate, said she's already started her research on projects she'd like to work on. She said that installing a dialysis unit at Myrah Keating Smith Community Health Center was at the top of her list.
She acknowledged that the decision to have a dialysis unit on St. John belonged to the Roy L. Schneider Regional Medical Center.
"I plan to work hand in hand with the hospital," she said.
She said she also will work on developing a partnership with the private sector to forge an apprenticeship program in fields such as electrical engineering and plumbing.
"And I want a state-of-the-art police academy for St. Croix," she said.
Later, in a televised interview, she said she wouldn't promise that she'd be able to bring cruise ships back to St. Croix.
Barshinger, who ran as a Democrat, said via telephone he was disappointed in his loss but said he planned to continue in his role as a community activist.
He said he was proud of what he accomplished during his one term in office. "We had so many good things in progress," he said later in a televised interview.
Barshinger was gracious in defeat and thanked his voters for supporting him. Barshinger and Wesselhoft supporters were in evidence at polling places across the territory.
"She's very young, intelligent and a born St. Johnian. That's what we're looking for," Carryn Martin said when asked on St. John why she was supporting Wesselhoft.
Barshinger said Wesselhoft's place of birth was a valid reason for electing her but said he planned to evaluate why he lost the election.
Back Talk
Share your reaction to this news with other Source readers. Please include headline, your name and city and state/country or island where you reside.
