2022 United States Virgin Islands gubernatorial election

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
See also: 2022 United States gubernatorial elections
2022 United States Virgin Islands gubernatorial election
← 2018 November 8, 2022 2026 →
Registered39,910
Turnout21,656
 
Nominee Albert Bryan Kurt Vialet
Party Democratic Independent
Running mate Tregenza Roach Janelle Sarauw
Popular vote 12,157 8,244
Percentage 56.14% 38.07%
Results by district
Bryan:       Vialet:      
Governor before election

Albert Bryan
Democratic

Elected Governor

Albert Bryan
Democratic

The 2022 U.S. Virgin Islands gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2022 to elect the Governor of the United States Virgin Islands. The election was held concurrently with the 2022 United States midterm elections.[1]

Incumbent Democratic Governor Albert Bryan was elected to a second four-year term in office, receiving 56% of the vote. He ran against Independent candidate and territorial senator Kurt Vialet, independent activist Ronald Pickard, and former ICM senator Stephen Frett.[2]

Democratic primary[edit]

  • Registered voters: 34,697
  • Turnout: 20.36%
  • Voting centers: St. Croix - David Canegata Recreation Center, Arthur A. Richards K-8 School Modular Cafeteria, St. Croix Central High School Gymnasium; St. Thomas - Tutu Park Mall (former Scotiabank location), CAHS Gymnasium, UVI Sports and Fitness Center; St. John - Calabash Boom Community Center

The 2022 Democratic gubernatorial primary was held on August 6, 2022.[3] Incumbents Governor Albert Bryan and Lieutenant Governor Tregenza Roach were challenged by Kent Bernier Sr. and his running mate, Oakland Benta.[4] Early voting began July 18 until August 1, 2022.[5] The first set of results came in at 8:45pm showing a close race between Bryan (566 votes) and Bernier (469 votes). Later into the night, Bryan commanded his lead with 3,270 votes compare to Bernier with 1,831 votes as early voting ballots were counted. Following a delay of votes at two voting sites on St. Thomas, unofficial results indicated Bryan with 4,016 votes won the nomination over Bernier, who received 2,146 votes.[6]

Debates[edit]

The Democratic Party of the Virgin Islands scheduled a Democratic gubernatorial forum with WTJX for July 14, 2022. Three days prior, the Bernier-Benta team withdrew from the forum and insisted on a debate with Bryan and Roach.[7]

Endorsements[edit]

Albert Bryan
Organizations
Individuals

Polling[edit]

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size 		Margin
of error 		Albert
Bryan (D) 		Kent
Bernier (D) 		None
I AM LLC June 5, 2022 752 ±3.53 61% 23% 15%
June 30, 2022 59% 24% 15%

Results[edit]

Democratic primary results territory-wide[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Albert Bryan Jr. 4,269 65.04
Democratic Kent Bernier Sr. 2,255 34.35
N/A Write-in 40 0.61
Total votes 6,564 100
Democratic primary results St. Croix District
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Albert Bryan Jr. 1,656 53.33
Democratic Kent Bernier Sr. 1,432 46.12
N/A Write-in: Vialet (4), Vialet Sarauw (1), Kurt Vialet and Janelle Sarauw (1), Kurt Vialet (4), Vialet/Sarauw (1), Vialet Sarauw (1), Kurt Vialet (1), Vialet Sarauw (1), Pickard & Turnbull (1), Delroy Smith (1), Deanna James (1) 17 0.55
Total votes 3,384 100
Democratic primary results St. Thomas-St. John District
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Albert Bryan Jr. 2,613 75.54
Democratic Kent Bernier Sr. 823 23.79
N/A Write-in: Vialet Sarauw (10), Blank (3), Janelle Sarauw (2), My Lord & Savior (1), Albert Bryan (1), Vialet (1), David Silverman (1), No Crooks (1), None of above (1), E (1), Smokey Frett (1) 23 0.66
Total votes 3,459 100

General election[edit]

The gubernatorial general election was held on November 8, 2022, with incumbent governor Albert Bryan facing three candidates: St. Croix Senator Kurt Vialet, former police officer Ronald Pickard, and former senator Stephen Frett. Early voting started October 10 and ran through October 31, 2022.

In this divisive election, Sarauw again faced questions about her tenure at CAHS as a teacher, which was mentioned during her 2016 Senate campaign.[10] She pushed back by stating that the reprimand letter was for being the most inspiring teacher during the 2009-2010 school year, and an honor from the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools and any unbecoming behavior she may have exhibited during her tenure as an educator at CAHS, could also be attributed to her age, 21 at that time. "I was 21, I was a baby. I was 21 then, I'm making 37 in two days, and people grow, evolve and they mature."[11]

At a virtual campaign rally, Bryan supporter King Derby sang "Roach & His Sluxter" while referring to Sarauw as "he/she" and Vialet as "that long-neck fella." The commentary drew outcry from the community, which led to Bryan apologizing days later.[12]

On election day, incumbents Governor Albert Bryan and Lieutenant Governor Tregenza Roach won 12,157 votes (56.14%), while their closest rivals, Kurt Vialet and Janelle Sarauw, received 8,244 votes (38.07%). Election results were certified on November 18, 2022.[13]

The Bryan campaign was fined $2,000 by the Elections System after fundraising with Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit on September 27.[14]

  • Voting centers: St. Croix - David Canegata Recreation Center, St. Dunstan’s Episcopal School auditorium, St. Croix Central High School Modular Gymnasium, St. Croix Educational Complex Gymnasium, and Arthur A. Richards K-8 School Modular Cafeteria; St. Thomas - Tutu Park Mall (former Scotiabank location), CAHS Gymnasium, UVI Sports and Fitness Center, Ivanna Eudora Kean High School Cafeteria; St. John - Julius E. Sprauve School Cafeteria, Calabash Boom Community Center.


Endorsements[edit]

Albert Bryan (D)
Kurt Vialet (I)
  • Cedric Armstrong, owner of Armstrong Ice Cream
  • Dr. Brittany Dawson, certified nurse‐midwife
  • Nereida Rivera-O'Reilly, former St. Croix Senator (2009–2019)

Polling[edit]

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Respondents Sample
size 		Margin
of error 		Kurt
Vialet (I) 		Albert
Bryan (D) 		Stephen Frett (ICM) Ronald
Pickard (I) 		Undecided
None
I AM LLC May 10, 2022 Territory-wide 400 – 29% 33% – 9% 16%
I AM LLC May 10, 2022 St. Croix District 400 – 44% 20%
I AM LLC May 10, 2022 St. Thomas-St. John District 400 – 14% 46%
VI Tech Stack September 7-13, 2022 Territory-wide ± 3.82% 650 25% 48% 1% 1% 23%
VI Tech Stack September 7-13, 2022 St. Thomas-St. John District 400 ± 4.86% 18% 58% 0% 1% 21%
VI Tech Stack September 7-13, 2022 St. Croix District 250 ± 6.17% 34% 37% 0% 1% 25%
I AM LLC October 31, 2022 Territory-wide 423 ± 4.74% 44% 40% 4% 0% 10%
I AM LLC October 31, 2022 St. Croix 224 ± 6.53% 46% 42% 6% 1% 3%
I AM LLC October 31, 2022 St. Thomas 199 ± 6.92% 38% 38% 3% 0% 19%
I AM LLC October 31, 2022 St. John 199 ± 6.92% 66% 22% 0% 0% 11%
  • USVI Public Schools Mock Election Results
Poll source School district Date(s)
administered 		Vialet / Sarauw Bryan / Roach Pickard / Turnbull Frett / Miller
IEKHS St. Thomas-St. John October 21, 2022 167 155 87 46
CAHS St. Thomas-St. John October 21-25, 2022 185 173 79 29
St. Croix Educational Complex St. Croix October 21, 2022 283 120 16 42
St. Croix Central High School St. Croix October 28, 2022 279 226 23 38
Lew Muckle Elementary School St. Croix 53 26 6 0

Results[edit]

CandidateRunning matePartyVotes%
Albert Bryan Jr.Tregenza RoachDemocratic Party12,15756.14
Kurt VialetJanelle K. SarauwIndependent8,24438.07
Stephen "Smokey" FrettGregory R. Miller Jr.Independent Citizens Movement7403.42
Ronald PickardElroy TurnbullIndependent2431.12
Write in2721.26
Total21,656100.00
Total votes22,557–
Registered voters/turnout39,91056.52
Source: [21]

Results by district[edit]

District Bryan Vialet Frett Pickard Write-in Total
St. Croix 4,502
(43.35%) 		5,378
(51.79%) 		213
(2.05%) 		126
(1.21%) 		166
(1.6%) 		10,385
St. Thomas-St. John 7,042
(68.48%) 		2,548
(24.78%) 		492
(4.78%) 		112
(1.09%) 		90
(0.88%) 		10,284

References[edit]

  1. ^ "2022 Midterm Elections". The New York Times.
  2. ^ "Bryan-Roach Secure Second Term With More than 11K Votes in General Election". St. Thomas Source. 9 November 2022. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
  3. ^ a b "2022 Primary Election". Election System of the Virgin Islands. Retrieved August 23, 2022.
  4. ^ "Kent Bernier Sr. Announced His Bid For Governor". St. Thomas Source. 7 June 2022. Retrieved 2022-06-10.
  5. ^ "Early Voting Gets Underway for 2022 Primary Election". St. Thomas Source. 18 July 2022.
  6. ^ "Bryan/Roach beat out Bernier/Benta in primary election". Virgin Islands Daily News. August 7, 2022.
  7. ^ "Bernier-Benta Gubernatorial Team Backs Out of Forum With Bryan and Roach; Cecile Benjamin 'Flabbergasted' at Withdrawal". The Virgin Islands Consortium.
  8. ^ "Democratic Governors Association Issues Ringing Endorsement Supporting Reelection of Bryan-Roach Administration".
  9. ^ "West End Democratic Club Endorses the Bryan/Roach Team". St. Thomas Source. 2022-05-25.
  10. ^ "Sarauw defends against anonymous accusations". The Virgin Islands Daily News. June 21, 2017.
  11. ^ "Sarauw Defends Record as Document of Her Reprimand While a Teacher at CAHS Surfaces". The Virgin Islands Consortium. September 26, 2022.
  12. ^ "Bryan Apologizes After King Derby Calls Sarauw 'He/She' During Virtual Rally". The Virgin Islands Consortium. 2022-10-03.
  13. ^ "Elections System certifies general election results". The Virgin Islands Daily News. November 19, 2022.
  14. ^ "Elections Fines Bryan-Roach Campaign for 'Illegal' Endorsement at Virtual Rally". St. Thomas Source. January 16, 2023.
  15. ^ "Campaign Rally - Pedro Pierluisi". Facebook. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  16. ^ "A message from the Governor of Puerto Rico, Pedro Pierluisi". Facebook. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  17. ^ "The Virgin Islands Consortium - PedEndorsement". The Virgin Islands Consortium. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  18. ^ "Campaign Rally -Roosevelt Skerrit". Facebook. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  19. ^ "The Virgin Islands Consortium - Roosevelt Skerrit Endorsement". The Virgin Islands Consortium. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  20. ^ "The Virgin Islands Consortium". The Virgin Islands Consortium. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  21. ^ "2022 General Election". Election System of the Virgin Islands.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2022_United_States_Virgin_Islands_gubernatorial_election&oldid=1223687642"