The United States Virgin Islands, officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and a 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. The islands have a tropical climate.
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.
Elections in the U.S. Virgin Islands are held to elect senators to the Legislature of the U.S. Virgin Islands, the governor and lieutenant governor of the territory, and a delegate to the United States House of Representatives.
Cyril E. King Airport is a public airport located two miles (3 km) west of the central business district of Charlotte Amalie on the island of St. Thomas in the United States Virgin Islands. It is currently the busiest airport in the United States Virgin Islands, and one of the busiest in the eastern Caribbean, servicing 1,403,000 passengers from July 2015 through June 2016. The airport also serves the island of St. John and is additionally often used by those travelling to the nearby British Virgin Islands.
The Democratic Party of the Virgin Islands is a political party in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and is affiliated with the Democratic Party at the nationwide level. It won the gubernatorial election of 2022 when the incumbent Democratic governor Albert Bryan was elected with 56 percent of the vote. In the last lesiglative election in November 2022, the party won 11 out of 15 seats in the Legislature of the Virgin Islands. Out of 30,000 active registered voters in the U.S. Virgin Islands, approximately 20,000 voters are registered Democrats.
Juan Francisco Luis was a Puerto Rican-U.S. Virgin Islander politician who served as the third elected Governor of the United States Virgin Islands, and the territory's 23rd governor overall. As lieutenant governor, Luis assumed the governorship on January 2, 1978, succeeding Governor Cyril King, who died in office. He served as governor from 1978 until 1987, becoming the longest-serving governor in the history of the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Cyril Emanuel King was an American politician who served as the second elected Governor of the United States Virgin Islands from 1975 until his death in 1978.
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 56% of the vote over Kenneth Mapp.
Kenneth Ezra Mapp is an American politician who served as the eighth elected Governor of the United States Virgin Islands, from 2015 to 2019. He was registered Republican, but ran as an independent.
Henry A. Millin was a United States Virgin Islander banker and politician. Millin served as the fourth Lieutenant Governor of the United States Virgin Islands from 1978 until 1983.
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.
Ruby M. Rouss was an American citizen born on Saint Croix in the US Virgin Islands. Her career was marked by a series of firsts. She was the first Virgin Islander in the Women's Army Corps (WAC), first African-American woman to serve on General Eisenhower’s staff, and first black woman assigned as a permanent staff of Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe. After a 20-year military career, she retired from service and became the first woman parole officer in St. Croix. In 1973, she was elected as one of the first women to serve in the Virgin Island's legislature. In 1981, Rouss served as the first female President of the Virgin Islands Legislature, becoming the first black woman to lead a legislature in the United States. She was elected to serve a second presidency of the Senate in 1987 and died the following year. Posthumously, she was inducted into the Virgin Island's Women's Hall of Fame and a housing project in St. Croix was renamed in her honor.
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. On Election Day, November 6, Bryan earned 38.08% of the vote, with Mapp coming in second with 33.45%. 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.
Ethlyn Smith was a civil servant from the British Virgin Islands, who became one of the first two women elected to the House of Assembly of the British Virgin Islands. After a career of more than two decades as an accountant and public administrator in the civil service of the British Virgin Islands, Smith retired and entered politics. She contested her first election in 1995 as an independent, winning the 5th District. She was reelected to the post in 1999, serving until her defeat in the 2003 elections.
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.
Agnes Agatha Schuster King was a U.S. Virgin Islander historic preservationist and gardener. She served as the First Lady of United States Virgin Islands from 1975 to 1978 during the tenure of her husband, Governor Cyril King, the second popularly elected governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands. King focused on the restoration, preservation, and beautification of public gardens and other spaces during and after her tenure as first lady. The First Lady's Garden, located in front of the Government House on Saint Thomas was named in King's honor by the Legislature of the Virgin Islands.
The 2022 United States Virgin Islands general election took place on Tuesday, November 8, 2022, to elect 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 1970 United States Virgin Islands general election in large part took place on November 3, 1970, to elect public officials in the United States Virgin Islands, with a run-off for the gubernatorial race taking place on November 17, 1970.
The 1974 United States Virgin Islands general election was held in large part on November 5, 1974, with a runoff for the gubernatorial election on November 19, 1974.
