USVI 2026 Primary: Certified Results and What Comes Next
Updated: Oct 25
The 2026 USVI Democratic Primary results are official. The territorial results report is dated August 17, 2026; the signed certification records August 25, 2026 as the certification date. I’ve kept my original graphics below and added current official sources so you can check the results and the November ballot.
Polls closed August 1. The Elections System released the territorial summary at 8:46 PM, and within an hour people were sharing screenshots of a document almost nobody could read on a phone.
That's the problem I want to solve here. Below is what the certified numbers actually say, what the primary settled, and who you will see on the ballot November 3.
These are the official, certified results, certified August 25, 2026. The primary is settled. The next decisions happen at the November 3 general election.
The short version
10,551 ballots, 50.43% turnout. These are the certified final results.
Territory-wide winners: Janelle Sarauw for the Delegate nomination, and the Plaskett/Potter ticket for Governor.
Six votes. That is the certified margin for the last St. Thomas/St. John Democratic Legislature nomination, the closest race on the board.
Coming November 3: the general election, including a five-ticket governor race. Use the current official sample ballot for your district.
What the turnout numbers show
10,551 ballots were cast territory-wide. That is 50.43 percent turnout. 18 ballots came back blank.
Just over half the registered Democratic voters represented in the primary report cast a ballot. In a territory this size, individual precincts and individual voters carry real weight, as a couple of these races make plain.
Who won the Democratic nominations
The count is certified, so these are the nominees. Two territory-wide races were on the ballot:
Delegate to Congress: Janelle K. Sarauw won the nomination with 5,167 votes
Governor and Lt. Governor: Stacey E. Plaskett and Milton E. Potter won the nomination with 4,742 votes
The governor race was closer than that territorial number suggests. Plaskett and Potter built their win on St. Croix, where they took 2,845 votes to Roach's 1,289. On St. Thomas and St. John, Tregenza Roach and Novelle Francis actually finished first, but by just 26 votes, 1,923 to 1,897. Plaskett carried the territory by carrying St. Croix.
Seven candidates won in each Legislature district. On St. Croix: Kurt Vialet, Kenneth Gittens, Clifford A. Joseph, Nemmy Williams-Jackson, Lisa J. Charles, Hubert L. Frederick and Jose Gonzalez. On St. Thomas and St. John: Avery L. Lewis, Marvin A. Blyden, Carla J. Joseph, Rudel A. Hodge Jr., Shenelle Francis, Ray Fonseca and Joel S. Browne Connors.
In Board of Education, Terrence T. Joseph and Winona A. Hendricks won on St. Croix, and Judy M. Gomez and Arah C. Lockhart won on St. Thomas and St. John. In the St. Thomas and St. John Board of Elections race, Kevin A. Rodriguez and Barbara A. Petersen took the two nominations.
The seat decided by six votes
The seventh Democratic Legislature nomination on St. Thomas and St. John came down to six votes, and the certified count holds it there. Browne Connors finished with 1,490. Peter Bailey finished with 1,484.
Six votes, confirmed through the absentee and provisional canvass and into certification.
Board of Elections was close too. Petersen took the second seat by 83 votes over Atanya Springette, and Rodriguez edged Petersen for first by only four.
Those are the tightest margins on the certified board.
How the neighborhoods voted
The precinct-by-precinct numbers add texture the territory-wide totals hide.
Turnout wasn't even. The West End precinct on St. Thomas led the whole territory at 55 percent, well above the 50.4 percent territorial figure, while a few precincts on both islands came in under 44 percent.
The governor race split St. Thomas and St. John almost neighborhood by neighborhood. Roach and Francis carried most of the St. Thomas town precincts, Charlotte Amalie, Altona, the West End, Annas Retreat. But St. John broke the other way: Plaskett and Potter took Cruz Bay and ran up a lopsided margin in Coral Bay, and they also carried North Look on St. Thomas. That St. John strength is part of what kept the district margin down to 26 votes.
The six-vote Legislature race had its own map, too. Peter Bailey actually outpolled Joel Browne Connors in Annas Retreat, his strongest precinct, but Browne Connors made up the difference in Charlotte Amalie and the West End, and that was the ballgame.
What the primary did not decide
This was a Democratic primary. Every candidate on it filed as a Democrat, all 17 in St. Croix, all 23 in St. Thomas and St. John.
That means the primary picked one party's nominees. It did not pick the field.
The primary selected the Democratic nominees. The general election includes candidates from other parties and independent candidates. My original ballot graphics reflect the earlier candidate listings; the current official sample ballots are the source to use when preparing to vote.
A few things that surprised people:
Governor is a five-way race. Plaskett and Potter face four independent tickets. If no ticket reaches a majority, a runoff follows on November 17.
Delegate to Congress is a two-way race. Sarauw faces independent Shelley A. H. Moorhead.
The Legislature races are crowded. The September sample ballots list 26 candidates on St. Croix and 22 on St. Thomas and St. John, each for seven district seats.
The At-Large seat never had a primary. Only one Democrat filed, so Angel Bolques Jr. and independent Hadiya Sewer go straight to November.
Candidates who did not win a primary nomination are not on the Democratic line. Check the official sample ballots and current Elections System write-in guidance for the general election.
Key dates ahead
As of October 25, early voting is underway. The registration deadline has passed. Check the official Elections System calendar and voting-center notices for hours, locations and any changes.
October 16–31: Early voting for the general election.
Tuesday, November 3: General Election.
Tuesday, November 17: Governor runoff, if required.
Why I built the graphics
I took the official results report and the official candidate listings and rebuilt them as readable images. One card per contest, sorted by district, plus a single graphic with everything on it.
That is the work: taking something accurate but unusable and making it something a person will actually stop and read.
It applies well beyond election night. Most businesses are sitting on information their customers would care about, pricing, service comparisons, results, timelines, trapped in a format nobody engages with. A PDF that takes three pinches to read is information you are not really sharing.
If your business has something worth communicating and it is not landing, that is usually a design problem, not a content problem.
Before you share anything
Check the date and time stamp on any results graphic before you pass it along. Mine shows the source and the date it was made. If a graphic does not tell you when it was made, you have no idea what you are sharing.
The official territorial results report is dated August 17. Page 3 of the signed certification states August 25, 2026. The earlier date printed on my original cover is the report date, not the certification date.
About Flo Dynasty
Flo Dynasty is my media, education, digital-asset and service business in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. I build and manage websites, produce video and event media, and design graphics that make useful information easier to understand. I bring 20+ years in IT to that work. Learn more about Flo Dynasty.
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Sources: official 2026 primary reports; current general-election sample ballots and notices; and the official election calendar. Shared for information. Flo Dynasty is not affiliated with the Elections System of the Virgin Islands.
The original district graphics summarize the governor vote: Plaskett/Potter carried St. Croix, while Roach/Francis led St. Thomas and St. John by 26 votes. Use the linked official reports for the complete district and precinct records.
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Updates
October 25, 2026: I refreshed the spacing, source links and image descriptions while preserving all original graphics. The certification date is corrected to August 25; August 17 is the report date. The September sample ballots replace earlier candidate counts as the current voting reference. Early voting is underway through October 31, followed by the November 3 general election.
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