There were no upsets or changes to the election night winners and losers when the St. Croix Board of Elections certified that island’s primary election results late Sunday and released the results Monday. [St. Croix Certified Primary Results]
Sunday was the statutory deadline for certifying the results. The St. Thomas/St. John board was unable to complete the certification Sunday or Monday and certified the results Tuesday evening. (See Related Links below.) The primary was held August 3.
As the board of elections counted mail-in and absentee ballots, each of the winning candidates increased their vote counts in proportion to their election night counts. The top election-night vote winners received more absentee and mail in votes than the second highest vote winner, and so on down the ticket, so that the winners all slightly increased their margins of victory.
For the St. Croix Senate seats, the top vote getter, public school principal Kurt Vialet, increased his vote count by 288, from 2,896 votes on election night to 3,184. Former Police Commissioner Novelle Francis Jr. increased from 2,716 to 2,970 votes, and Sen. Kenneth Gittens from 2,189 to 2,419 votes.
Former Sen. Neville James, in fourth, increased from 2,149 to 2,362 votes. Senate Vice President Sammuel Sanes increased from 2,035 to 2,237 votes. Malcolm McGregor, a former special assistant to Gov. John deJongh Jr., added 159 votes to end with 1,878. Sen. Diane Capehart still rounds out the Democratic Party ticket, getting another 140 votes, to finish with 1,473. Paul "Paulie" Arnold gained 130 votes for a total of 1,436 – falling slightly further behind Capehart and remaining off the November ballot.
Incumbents Rupert Ross and Raymond Williams and challenger Barbara Jackson-McIntosh will be the Democratic Party nominees for the St. Croix Board of Elections in November, with each gaining more than a hundred votes.
Political party offices were decided at the primary and will not be on the November general election ballot. For party offices, Cecil Benjamin won Democratic Party state chair, with 1,402 votes. Aminah Saleem came in second with 995 votes.
For the Republican Party state chairman, John Canegata remains the winner, with 54 votes to Herb Schoenbohm’s 42 votes.
