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.
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.
The Legislature of the Virgin Islands is the territorial legislature of the United States Virgin Islands. The legislative branch of the unincorporated U.S. territory is unicameral,with a single house consisting of 15 senators,elected to two-year terms without term limits. The legislature meets in Charlotte Amalie on the island of St. Thomas.
The Philippine Commission was the name of two bodies,both appointed by the president of the United States,to assist with governing the Philippines.
The National Black Caucus of State Legislators(NBCSL) is an American political organization composed of African Americans elected to state legislatures in the United States and its territories.
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.
Adlah Alphonso "Foncie" Donastorg,Jr. is a U.S. Virgin Islander politician,who served as a Senator in the Legislature of the Virgin Islands for seven terms from January 1995 through January 2011. He was most recently a Democratic candidate for Governor of the United States Virgin Islands in the 2010 and the 2014 gubernatorial elections.
Gerard Luz Amwur James II is an American Virgin Islander politician,funeral director,and businessman. James served as the Lieutenant Governor of the United States Virgin Islands from 1999 until 2003 and was the president of Fifth Constitutional Convention of the U.S. Virgin Islands.
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.
James "Jimmy" O'Bryan Jr. is a United States Virgin Islander politician,spokesman and former press secretary. He previously served as the Administrator of the island of Saint Thomas,U.S. Virgin Islands.
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.
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.
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. 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.
Kurt Anthony Vialet is an Virgin Islander politician and former educator who served as a senator in the Legislature of the Virgin Islands from the St. Croix District from 2015 to 2023. He ran as an independent candidate for Governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands in the 2022 election.
The 34th Virgin Islands Legislature was a meeting of the Legislature of the Virgin Islands. It convened in Charlotte Amalie on January 11,2021,during the third year of Albert Bryan’s governorship and ended on January 9,2023.
The 35th Virgin Islands Legislature is the current meeting of the Legislature of the Virgin Islands. It has convened in Charlotte Amalie on January 9,2023,during the first two years of Governor Albert Bryan’s second term.
Javan E. James Sr. is a United States Virgin Islands politician and senator serving in the Legislature of the Virgin Islands from the St. Croix District,since 2019. He is the youngest member to serve in the territory’s legislature since Alvin Williams Jr.
