Donna Christensen | |
---|---|
Chair of the Virgin Islands Democratic Party | |
In office August 6, 2016 –August 4, 2018 | |
Preceded by | Cecil Benjamin |
Succeeded by | Cecil Benjamin |
Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from the U.S. Virgin Islands's at-large district | |
In office January 3,1997 –January 3,2015 | |
Preceded by | Victor O. Frazer |
Succeeded by | Stacey Plaskett |
Personal details | |
Born | Donna Marie Christian September 19,1945 Teaneck,New Jersey,U.S. |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse | Chris Christensen (m. 1998) |
Education | St. Mary's College, Indiana (BS) George Washington University (MD) |
Donna Marie Christian-Christensen, formerly Donna Christian-Green (born September 19, 1945), is an American physician and politician. She served as the 4th elected non-voting Delegate from the United States Virgin Islands's at-large district to the United States House of Representatives from 1997 until 2015.
Born Donna Christian in Teaneck, New Jersey, she is the daughter of a Virgin Islands Federal District Court judge, Almeric Christian. She received her Bachelor of Science from St. Mary's College in Notre Dame, Indiana in 1966. Christensen then attended the George Washington University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C., where she received an M.D. in 1970. [1] She interned at San Francisco's Pacific Medical Center from 1970 to 1971 and performed her residency in family medicine at Howard University Medical Center from 1973 to 1974.
Donna Christian-Christensen worked as a physician, first in the emergency room and later in the maternity ward. She then served as medical director for the St. Croix Hospital in St. Croix, Virgin Islands. She was the Acting Commissioner of Health for the Virgin Islands in 1993 and 1994 and also ran a private medical practice until 1996. [2]
Christian was a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions from 1994 through 2012 elections. She has also previously served on the Status Commission and the Board of Education for the USVI. [3]
She was also active in community organizations in the Virgin Islands, working to protect St. Croix from overdevelopment, and leading an effort to improve the quality of local judicial appointments. [4]
Donna Christian-Christensen ran unsuccessfully for the position of USVI delegate in 1994, losing in the primary to former judge Eileen Petersen. She won a three-way race beating Victor Frazer, an Independent. That race also included future Governor Kenneth Mapp, who would defeat Christensen in 2014 during the Governor race. However, she was elected as a Democrat to the House in a 1996 runoff with Frazer and served from January 3, 1997, to January 3, 2015.
Christian-Christensen has supported Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Shortly before the Supreme Court affirmed the legislation, she said "For 99 years, presidents have been trying to do this. Finally, our president has made it possible for each and every American." [5]
Donna Christian-Christensen is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Progressive Caucus. She was featured on The Colbert Report's Better Know a Protectorate segment. She is also the first female physician to win a congressional election. [2]
During the 2008 electoral campaign, [6] she appeared in a TV advertisement endorsing the reelection of neighboring Puerto Rico Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, who went to trial after the November 2008 elections for a twenty-four-count federal Grand Jury indictment for corruption. [7] The jury found him not guilty, though he did lose his bid for re-election.
Christian-Christensen won her 2010 reelection campaign with 71.22% of the vote. [8]
Christian-Christensen received substantial donations, at least $37,000 dollars, for her re-election from sources that are connected to Jeffrey Thompson, the chartered health services chairman. However, since he had recently come under fire for a scandal, this money may have been considered to be "pecunia non grata" (unwanted money). Soon after, Thompson's firm was awarded a $6.3 million government contract in the Virgin Islands, Christensen's home district. [9] [10] [11] Nonetheless, Christian-Christensen won her 2012 re-election bid with 60.05% of the vote.
Christian-Christensen did not seek re-election to her congressional seat. Instead, she ran for Governor of the United States Virgin Islands, [12] ultimately losing to Kenneth Mapp in a runoff. [13]
On March 23, 2009, Delegate Christensen became the Ship Sponsor of the USCGC Reef Shark during the vessel's commissioning ceremony in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Reef Shark is a new 87' cutter, built at an approximate cost of $7.5 million by Bollinger Shipyards in Lockport, Louisiana.
The United States Virgin Islands, officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and an unincorporated and organized territory of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles.
Politics of the United States Virgin Islands takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic dependency, whereby the Governor is the head of the territory's government, and of a multi-party system. United States Virgin Islands are an unincorporated and organized territory of the United States, administered by the Office of Insular Affairs of the United States Department of the Interior. Executive power is exercised by the local government of the Virgin Islands. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
The United States Virgin Islands' at-large congressional district encompasses the entire area of the U.S. Virgin Islands. The territory does not have a voting member of Congress, but does elect a delegate who can participate in debates.
The 2008 Congressional election for the Delegate from the United States Virgin Islands was held on November 4, 2008.
Legislative elections were held in United States Virgin Islands on 4 November 2008.
The 2010 U.S. Virgin Islands gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 2010, and won by incumbent Democratic Governor John de Jongh. De Jongh was elected to his first term in 2006 with 57.3% of the vote over Kenneth Mapp.
The 2010 Congressional election for Delegate to the United States House of Representatives from the United States Virgin Islands was held on November 2, 2010.
Kenneth Ezra Mapp is an American retired politician who served as the eighth elected Governor of the United States Virgin Islands, from 2015 to 2019. He is registered Republican, but ran as an independent.
The United States Virgin Islands general election was held on November 2, 2010. Voters chose the Governor of the United States Virgin Islands, the non-voting delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives and all fifteen seats in the Legislature of the Virgin Islands. The election coincided with the 2010 United States general election.
Julio A. Brady was an American Virgin Islander judge, politician and attorney. Brady served as the Lieutenant Governor of the United States Virgin Islands from 1983 to 1987 during the second term of former Governor Juan Francisco Luis. Prior to his death, Brady served as a U.S. Virgin Islands Superior Court judge since 2006.
Derek M. Hodge was an American Virgin Islander politician and lawyer who served as the Lieutenant Governor of the United States Virgin Islands for two terms from 1987 to 1995 under Governor Alexander Farrelly. The Virgin Islands Daily News called him a "towering figure in local politics," referring to his political career, which spanned several decades.
The 2012 United States House of Representatives election in the United States Virgin Islands was held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012 and elected the non-voting Delegate to the United States House of Representatives from the United States Virgin Islands. The election coincided with the elections of other federal offices, including a quadrennial presidential election.
The 2014 U.S. Virgin Islands gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2014, to elect the Governor of the United States Virgin Islands. Incumbent Democratic Governor John de Jongh was term-limited and was unable run for re-election to a third term in office. Since no candidate received a majority in the general election, as required by the Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands, a runoff was held between Donna Christian-Christensen and Kenneth Mapp, the two top vote receivers. Mapp went on to win the run off in a landslide victory, with almost 64% of the vote.
The 2014 United States House of Representatives election in the United States Virgin Islands were held on Tuesday, November 4, 2014 to elect the non-voting Delegate to the United States House of Representatives from the United States Virgin Islands' at-large congressional district. The election coincided with the elections of other federal and state offices, including the election of the Virgin Islands' governor.
Stacey Elizabeth Plaskett is an American politician and attorney serving since 2015 as the non-voting delegate to the United States House of Representatives from the United States Virgin Islands' (USVI) at-large congressional district. Plaskett has practiced law in New York City, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The United States Virgin Islands general election was held on 4 November 2014. Voters chose the non-voting delegate to the United States House of Representatives, all fifteen seats in the Legislature of the Virgin Islands, and the Governor of the United States Virgin Islands.
The 2018 U.S. Virgin Islands gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2018, to select the Governor of the United States Virgin Islands. The election was held concurrently with the 2018 United States midterm elections. Since no candidate received a majority of the General Election vote, as required by the Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands, a runoff was held 14 days later between Albert Bryan Jr. and Incumbent Governor Kenneth Mapp, the top two vote-getters. On November 20, 2018, Democrat Albert Bryan Jr. won the runoff with 54.5% of the vote.
The United States Virgin Islands general election was held on November 8, 2016. Voters chose the delegate to the United States House of Representatives and all fifteen seats in the Legislature of the Virgin Islands.
Cora LeEthel Christian was the first native woman of the U.S. Virgin Islands to earn a medical degree, and is a medical administrator in the U.S Virgin Islands.
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.