As polls closed in the territory and parts of the country, dozens of electioneers and backers of Del. Stacey Plaskett made their way to a nondescript building in the middle of St. Croix to wait for the results of the 2024 Virgin Islands general election.
Just before 8:30 p.m., Plaskett entered the building — and promptly hopped on a table to dance along with her supporters.
According to unofficial results released by the V.I. Elections System on Tuesday night, Plaskett swept the contest for delegate to Congress, receiving approximately 74 percent of the vote in the St. Thomas-St. John district and nearly 76 percent of the vote on St. Croix, for a total of 9,988 votes cast. Candidate Ida Smith garnered 2,218 votes, while Ronald Pickard pulled in 1,311 votes.
Tuesday, Plaskett said her office spends a lot of time reaching out to the community through town halls, meet and greets and webinars.
“And so we really had a pulse on what was concerning to individuals. One, of course, is frustration with the amount of federal resources that are here that they feel has not necessarily been on the ground and trying to navigate that for people,” she said. “And, how do we get that down and help the local government realize the resources that they have?”
Plaskett also pointed to “bread and butter” issues facing the territory, like issues with the V.I. Water and Power Authority and the high cost of electricity.
“And not just the high cost, but the lack of reliability in our utility system,” she said. Plaskett pointed to her efforts to connect the local government with the U.S. Energy Department and outreach on issues from roofing programs to recent package delivery delays.
Turning to the races playing out across the country, Plaskett borrowed an increasingly popular aphorism among Democrats and described herself as “nauseously optimistic” about the 2024 presidential election. She said she’s excited to have Vice President Kamala Harris as the next president of the United States and to work with Rep. Hakeem Jeffries as the next speaker of the House.
“The other thing that I . . . just want Virgin Islanders to know is that, look — I have legislation that’s with Republicans, and if Trump should win, that I’m willing to work with whomever it is to support the people of the Virgin Islands,” she said.
Plaskett said members of Congress work with each other “all the time.”
“We can argue with each other and can then go have dinner with each other,” she said. “It’s about policy for most of us, it’s not about personalities.”
