2022 United States Virgin Islands gubernatorial election

See also: 2022 United States gubernatorial elections

2022 United States Virgin Islands gubernatorial election

←  2018 November 8, 2022 2026  →
Registered	39,910
Turnout	21,656
Nominee Albert Bryan Kurt Vialet Smokey Frett Party Democratic Independent Independent Citizens Movement Running mate Tregenza Roach Janelle Sarauw Gregory R. Miller Jr Popular vote 12,157 8,244 740 Percentage 56.14% 38.07% 3.42%   Nominee Ronald Pickard Party Independent Running mate Elroy Turnbull Popular vote 243 Percentage 1.12%
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 senator Stephen Frett of the Independent Citizens Movement. ^[2]

Democratic primary

• 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, 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 took place July 18 through 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 won the nomination with 4,016 votes over Bernier, who received 2,146 votes. ^[6]

Debates

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 a debate with Bryan and Roach. ^[7]

Endorsements

Albert Bryan

Organizations

• Democratic Governors Association ^[8]
• Democratic Party of the Virgin Islands
• St. Croix West End Democratic Club ^[9]

Individuals

• Donna Christian-Christensen, former Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives (1997-2015)

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Albert Bryan (D)	Kent Bernier (D)	None
I AM LLC [10]	June 5, 2022	752	±3.53	61%	23%	15%
	June 30, 2022			59%	24%	15%

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 [10]	May 10, 2022	Territory-wide	400	–	29%	33%	–	9%	16%
I AM LLC [10]	May 10, 2022	St. Croix	400	–	44%	20%
I AM LLC [10]	May 10, 2022	St. Thomas-St. John	400	–	14%	46%
VI Tech Stack [11]	September 7–13, 2022	Territory-wide	± 3.82%	650	25%	48%	1%	1%	23%
VI Tech Stack [11]	September 7–13, 2022	St. Thomas-St. John	400	± 4.86%	18%	58%	0%	1%	21%
VI Tech Stack [11]	September 7–13, 2022	St. Croix	250	± 6.17%	34%	37%	0%	1%	25%
I AM LLC [10]	October 31, 2022	Territory-wide	423	± 4.74%	44%	40%	4%	0%	10%
I AM LLC [10]	October 31, 2022	St. Croix	224	± 6.53%	46%	42%	6%	1%	3%
I AM LLC [10]	October 31, 2022	St. Thomas	199	± 6.92%	38%	38%	3%	0%	19%
I AM LLC [10]	October 31, 2022	St. John	199	± 6.92%	66%	22%	0%	0%	11%

Results

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

St. Croix Democratic primary results

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

St. Thomas/St. John Democratic primary results

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

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, CAHS Gymnasium, UVI Sports and Fitness Center, Ivanna Eudora Kean High School Cafeteria; St. John - Julius E. Sprauve School Cafeteria, Calabash Boom Community Center.

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. ^[12] 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." ^[13]

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. ^[14]

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. ^[15]

The Bryan campaign was fined $2,000 by the Elections System for fundraising with Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit on September 27, 2022. ^[16]

Endorsements

Albert Bryan (D)

• Jaime Harrison, Chair of the Democratic National Committee (2021–2025)
• Pedro Pierluisi, Governor of Puerto Rico (2021–2025) ^{[17] [18] [19]}
• Roosevelt Skerrit, Prime Minister of Dominica (2004-present) ^{[20] [21] [22]}

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

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 [10]	May 10, 2022	Territory-wide	400	–	29%	33%	–	9%	16%
I AM LLC [10]	May 10, 2022	St. Croix	400	–	44%	20%
I AM LLC [10]	May 10, 2022	St. Thomas-St. John	400	–	14%	46%
VI Tech Stack [11]	September 7–13, 2022	Territory-wide	± 3.82%	650	25%	48%	1%	1%	23%
VI Tech Stack [11]	September 7–13, 2022	St. Thomas-St. John	400	± 4.86%	18%	58%	0%	1%	21%
VI Tech Stack [11]	September 7–13, 2022	St. Croix	250	± 6.17%	34%	37%	0%	1%	25%
I AM LLC [10]	October 31, 2022	Territory-wide	423	± 4.74%	44%	40%	4%	0%	10%
I AM LLC [10]	October 31, 2022	St. Croix	224	± 6.53%	46%	42%	6%	1%	3%
I AM LLC [10]	October 31, 2022	St. Thomas	199	± 6.92%	38%	38%	3%	0%	19%
I AM LLC [10]	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 [23]	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

Candidate		Running mate	Party	Votes	%
	Albert Bryan Jr.	Tregenza Roach	Democratic Party	12,157	56.14
	Kurt Vialet	Janelle K. Sarauw	Independent	8,244	38.07
	Stephen "Smokey" Frett	Gregory R. Miller Jr.	Independent Citizens Movement	740	3.42
	Ronald Pickard	Elroy Turnbull	Independent	243	1.12
Write in				272	1.26
Total				21,656	100.00
Total votes				22,557	–
Registered voters/turnout				39,910	56.52
Source: [24]

Results by district

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

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. November 9, 2022. Retrieved November 9, 2022.
3. "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. June 7, 2022. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
5. "Early Voting Gets Underway for 2022 Primary Election". St. Thomas Source. July 18, 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. May 25, 2022.
10. I AM LLC
11. VI Tech Stack
12. "Sarauw defends against anonymous accusations". The Virgin Islands Daily News. June 21, 2017.
13. "Sarauw Defends Record as Document of Her Reprimand While a Teacher at CAHS Surfaces". The Virgin Islands Consortium. September 26, 2022.
14. "Bryan Apologizes After King Derby Calls Sarauw 'He/She' During Virtual Rally". The Virgin Islands Consortium. October 3, 2022.
15. "Elections System certifies general election results". The Virgin Islands Daily News. November 19, 2022.
16. "Elections Fines Bryan-Roach Campaign for 'Illegal' Endorsement at Virtual Rally". St. Thomas Source. January 16, 2023.
17. "Campaign Rally - Pedro Pierluisi". Facebook. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
18. "A message from the Governor of Puerto Rico, Pedro Pierluisi". Facebook. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
19. "The Virgin Islands Consortium - PedEndorsement". The Virgin Islands Consortium. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
20. "Campaign Rally -Roosevelt Skerrit". Facebook. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
21. "The Virgin Islands Consortium - Roosevelt Skerrit Endorsement". The Virgin Islands Consortium. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
22. "The Virgin Islands Consortium". The Virgin Islands Consortium. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
23. IEKHS
24. "2022 General Election". Election System of the Virgin Islands.