Plaskett and Potter Win Democratic Primary as Turnout Reaches 47.75 Percent

ST. CROIX — With turnout reaching 47.75 percent and nearly 10,000 voters casting ballots, Delegate to Congress Stacey E. Plaskett and Senate President Milton E. Potter won the Democratic primary for governor and lieutenant governor Saturday, defeating two rival tickets after a campaign centered on whether the territory’s unprecedented federal resources were producing measurable results at home.  An unofficial territorial election summary released at 8:46 p.m. showed Plaskett and Potter receiving 4,493 votes, or 46.99 percent of the 9,561 votes cast in the gubernatorial contest. 

Lieutenant Governor Tregenza Roach and Senator Novelle E. Francis Jr. finished second with 3,054 votes, or 31.94 percent, while former senator Donna Frett-Gregory and Rodney Moorehead placed third with 1,975 votes, or 20.66 percent. Another 39 votes were cast for write-in candidates.  Plaskett and Potter led their nearest opponents by 1,439 votes, a margin of just over 15 percentage points, giving the ticket a commanding plurality in the three-way contest.  The results remain unofficial. The Elections System’s amended calendar schedules certification of the primary election results for August 11. Plaskett and Potter are now positioned to represent the Democratic Party in the November 3 general election.

The election summary reported 9,991 ballots cast  territory wide, including 17 blank ballots. The final unofficial count was 2,878 ballots higher than the 7,113 recorded when early voting ended Wednesday. Early voters alone represented 34 percent of the territory’s active registered Democrats, with 3,461 ballots cast on St. Croix, 3,444 on St. Thomas and 208 on St. John.  READ MORE...https://viconsortium.com/vi-election/virgin-islands-plaskett-and-potter-win-democratic-primary-as-turnout-reaches-47-75-percent