Despite the turmoil churned by new election laws, deadly serious political party infighting, policy changes, multiple interpretations of existing laws and a bevy of court challenges, the Joint Board of Elections and Election Supervisor Caroline Fawkes are struggling to keep a semblance of order for the 2016 election cycle.
Late Wednesday, after an all-day meeting of the joint board addressing myriad issues, Fawkes released the official list of candidates for 2016.
It differed only slightly from the unofficial list published two weeks ago.
There is no change in the race for Delegate to Congress where incumbent Stacey Plaskett is facing a challenge from fellow-Democrat Ronald E. Russell, former Senate president.
Only two of the 15 senators currently serving have opted not to seek reelection: Senator-at-Large Almando “Rocky” Liburd and St. Thomas-St. John district Sen. Clifford F. Graham. All the St. Croix district incumbents have filed petitions to run again, although one of them will appear under a different name.
Formerly known as Sen. Terrence A. “Positive” Nelson, Nelson legally changed his first name to what had been his nickname, so he is listed now for senatorial candidate as “Positive T.A. Nelson.”
Former Sen. Alicia “Chucky” Hansen is attempting to win back a St. Croix Senate seat. The multi-termed Hansen was convicted in 2008 of three counts of willful failure to file her income tax return. She was reelected in both 2010 and 2012, but in 2014 questions of her eligibility for office were raised, with critics arguing that her crime reached the threshold of “moral turpitude” and so disqualified her.
The controversy dominated the courts, the elections process and the news media for weeks. The V.I. Supreme Court ruled against Hansen, but then-Gov. John de Jongh Jr. pardoned her. Although the pardon cleared the way for Hansen to run, she had missed the deadline for filing her petition. She attempted a write-in campaign, but fell far below the number of votes needed to get a seat.
As usual, the vast majority of candidates are running as Democrats. The second-biggest category comprises “No Party” candidates. There are only a handful of Republicans running for any public office – most of them for the Board of Elections; and only two members of the Independent Citizens Movement – Nelson for a St. Croix legislative seat and Stephen M. Frett for a St. Thomas-St. John legislative seat.
For an organization to maintain its status as a recognized political party, persons running under the party banner must garner at least a combined 5 percent of the total vote.
In the past, before the November general election, the Elections Office held a primary in August at which voters could vote for officers in the party of their choice. They also selected their party candidates for public office.
Typically neither Republicans nor the ICM party had more candidates running for any given public office than there were seats available, so they rarely needed a primary for any reason other than electing party officers.
In a change of policy, the board is attempting to eliminate party officers from the August primary and leave it only for public offices, which would effectively mean only Democrats would have a primary this year. Again the policy has been challenged.
There were a few differences between the unofficial and the official list of candidates. One of the more significant changes involves the senator-at-large position. There are two people vying for the single spot, both of them running as Democrats, which means the position will be one of those on the Democratic primary ballot. The candidates are Brian A. Smith and Stacie B. January. January was erroneously listed as a candidate for a district seat on the unofficial list.
Two candidates who appeared on the unofficial list were dropped from the official. Fawkes said Anselma John-Ayala, who had submitted a petition to run for the Legislature on St. Croix, withdrew her name. Omar Henry, who also had been listed in the St. Croix legislative race, was cut from list because he didn’t have enough names of certified voters on his petition.
People running for office under a party banner must get signatures from at least 25 people who are registered voters under that party affiliation.
Those who are running as “No Party” need 100 signatures, but they may be voters registered in any party or as independents. That is a recent change to the elections law; a “no party” candidacy used to require 50 signatures.
Another recent change is the requirement that anyone serving on the Board of Elections may not run for another public office. That law went into effect in December 2014 and is now being challenged for the first time. Ivy K. Moses, who serves on the board, is attempting to run for a legislative district seat.
Fawkes initially disqualified her unless she resigned from the board, but the case is in court, so, at least for now, her name appears on the official list of candidates.
Below are the 2016 candidates, per the current official list.
Delegate to Congress
Stacey Plaskett, Dem
Ronald E. Russell, Dem
Senator-at-Large
Brian A. Smith, Dem
Stacie B. January, Dem
District Senator, St. Croix
Democrats
Terrence D. Joseph
George Moore
Kurt Vialet
Sammuel Sanes
Agustin Q. Salas
Novelle E. Francis Jr.
Neville James
Ignacio Llanos III
Troy Mason
Fred Esannason
Kenneth L. Gittens
Nereida “Nellie” Rivera-O’Reilly
No-Party
Alicia Hansen
Patricia James
Duane Howell
Norman Jn Baptiste
Danny Emmaneul
Republican
Robert B. Moorhead
ICM
Positive T.A. Nelson
District Senator, St. Thomas-St. John
Democrats
Myron Jackson
Janette Millin young
Dwayne Degraff
Kevin Rodriguez
Justin Harrigan Sr.
Ivy K. Moses
Jean A. Forde
Marvin A. Blyden
Patrick Simeon Sprauve
Julia R. Joseph-Simon
Claudette Georges
No-Party
Bruce C. Flamon
Shirley M. Sadler
Tregenza A. Roach
Margaret Price
Maxwell A. Caarty
Albert F. Richaardson
Alma Francis Heyliger
Janelle K. Sarauw
Wilma Marsh Monsanto
ICM
Stephen M. Frett
Republican
NONE
Board of Education – At Large
James Provost, Dem
Board of Education – St. Croix district
Susanna Callwood Smith, Dem
Mary L. Moorhead, No Party
Martial Webster, No Party
Board of Education – St. Thomas-St. John district
LaVerne Slack, Dem
Kyza A. Callwood, Dem
Yegin Habtes, Dem
Arah C. Lockhart, Dem
Phoebe Smith-Charles, Dem
Joan Foy, No Party
Board of Elections – St. Croix
Glenn Webster, Rep
Lilliana Belardo de O’Neal, Rep
Jevon O.A. Williams, Rep
Epiphane Joseph, No Party
Lisa Harris Moorhead, No Party
Board of Elections – St. Thomas-St. John
Patrick Varlack, Dem
Arturo Watlington, Jr., Dem
Maurice A. Donovan, Jr., Dem
Lydia A. Hendricks, No Party
Alecia M. Wells, No Party
Harriet A. Mercer, No Party
Lawrence Boschulte, Rep
Robert M. Schanfarber, Rep
