On a warm Saturday night in Frederiksted, St. Croix, Stacey Plaskett formally entered the race for governor, tapping Senate President Milton Potter as her running mate in a joint announcement that leaned heavily on experience, federal access, and a promise to turn long-discussed funding into tangible results on the ground.
The rollout — equal parts personal narrative and policy pitch — centered on a shared theme repeated throughout both speeches: a “people-powered” campaign that is “ready to deliver,” with the candidates positioning themselves as a blend of federal influence and local execution at a moment they described as critical for the territory.
Potter, who will seek the lieutenant governor’s seat, grounded his remarks in a personal story about growing up in the Virgin Islands and watching his mother struggle to access specialized health care — a moment he said shaped both his career and decision to run.
“That kitchen table is still out there,” he said, describing families forced to navigate gaps in local medical services. “Far too many of our families are still sitting by it.”
From there, Potter pivoted to a broader critique of long-standing systemic challenges — particularly the territory’s energy grid and health care system — tying both to everyday impacts on residents.
On the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority, Potter framed outages not as technical issues but as daily disruptions to health and economic stability, citing residents unable to refrigerate medication and businesses losing revenue during blackouts. He argued that despite abundant solar potential, Virgin Islanders continue to pay some of the highest electricity rates in the United States — a point supported by federal energy data showing the territory’s costs consistently rank among the highest nationally due to fuel dependency and aging infrastructure.
He also pointed to the territory’s reliance on off-island care, a long-standing issue documented in federal and local health assessments, where limited specialty services often require costly travel. Potter credited Plaskett with securing federal funding to rebuild hospitals, but emphasized that “resources” must translate into accessible care locally — a gap that has been repeatedly flagged in post-hurricane recovery reporting.
Throughout his remarks, Potter cast the ticket as a functional partnership: Plaskett opening doors in Washington, and himself ensuring those resources are implemented effectively at home.
Plaskett’s speech afterward built on that framework, tracing her candidacy through both personal history and her nearly 12 years as the territory’s delegate to Congress. She highlighted her upbringing in a family shaped by migration for economic opportunity — a common experience among Virgin Islanders — and positioned that background as central to her approach to governance.
Her case for governor leaned heavily on federal dollars secured during her tenure, including disaster recovery funding following the 2017 hurricanes, Medicaid expansions, and tax credit provisions that deliver tens of millions annually to residents.
That funding — totaling billions — aligns with congressional appropriations tied to hurricane recovery and infrastructure rebuilding across the territory. But Plaskett acknowledged a key criticism that has surfaced in public discourse and reporting: that large federal allocations have not always translated into visible improvements in daily life.
“Securing billions of dollars is not enough,” she said. “Resources … are not worth anything if people are not seeing it on the ground.”
Her policy outline focused on converting those funds into outcomes, including two accredited hospitals within six years, expanded health care workforce development, improvements in education outcomes, and modernization of government services — including proposals for public-facing dashboards and a centralized 311 system.
On energy, Plaskett referenced billions already allocated for grid improvements, pledging a more transparent and accountable approach to reforming WAPA, which has faced years of scrutiny over outages, procurement practices, and debt obligations.
Plaskett also moved preemptively to address one of the most persistent political flashpoints tied to her tenure: campaign donations linked to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The issue has resurfaced periodically in Virgin Islands politics, particularly given Epstein’s financial and social ties to the territory prior to his 2019 death. Public records show that Plaskett’s campaign received contributions connected to Epstein, which she later redirected to organizations supporting women and families.
In her remarks, Plaskett characterized the issue as a political distraction, stating she had been “cleared by the victims themselves” and emphasizing that her campaign contribution — approximately $8,000 — had been donated.
She also suggested opponents would attempt to leverage the issue to divert attention from broader governance concerns, urging voters to focus instead on policy outcomes and accountability.
Both candidates repeatedly framed their campaign as a break from what they described as cycles of delay, political favoritism, and unfulfilled promises — language that echoes broader voter frustrations reflected in recent polling and public commentary around infrastructure, health care access, and governance transparency in the territory.
Plaskett, in particular, emphasized urgency, calling the current moment a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” to transform the Virgin Islands, while warning against continued delays in deploying already-secured funding.
Potter reinforced that message by positioning the ticket as a practical governing team rather than a symbolic one — a pairing, he said, designed to move from policy to implementation.
The Plaskett-Potter ticket now enters what is expected to be a competitive gubernatorial race, where issues like energy reliability, health care access, and government accountability are likely to dominate.
Both candidates signaled they will begin an island-wide campaign tour in the coming weeks, with a focus on direct engagement — a strategy consistent with their “people-powered” messaging.
