President Obama Has Endorsed Donna Christensen For Governor

In a statement released on Friday, President Barack Obama endorsed Delegate to Congress and gubernatorial candidate, Donna M. Christensen, to be the next Governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands.

I am proud to support Donna Christensen as the next Governor of the Virgin Islands. I have worked with Donna over the years and she has always been a fighter for the Virgin Islands, never losing focus of the issues that matter to you. With Donna as your next Governor you will have a champion that is fighting for an economy that works for everyone and I will have a partner I can count on. On November 4th, I hope you will join me in supporting Donna Christensen.

Delegate Christensen welcomed the endorsement by responding with a statement of her own: “I welcome President Obama’s support. The Virgin Islands will continue to benefit in the economy, energy, health care, education, transportation and other key areas under his leadership,” she said.

In a recent interview with VI Consortium, Delegate Christensen said she would continue using the relationships she has built over the years in Washington to bring economic development to the territory. Christensen also said St. Croix would be her first focus, adding that if the territory is to move forward in economic growth, it must begin with St. Croix.

As it relates to winning, Christensen said she felt good about her prospects.

“I feel very good about it, I feel very positive about it. I think we get good responses as we move around the territory, or as we do our phone banking. Or as I go to the stores — or wherever I am; I get a very good responses on all three Islands,” she said.

The Delegate’s campaign hasn’t been without controversy; however, as Basil Ottley, Christensen’s running mate, has seen some trouble regarding his residency, and whether he’s eligible to seek office at this time in the territory.

Allen Haynes, Sr., a Virgin Islands citizen, has filed a new lawsuit in the Superior Court that seeks to remove Ottley’s name from the Nov 4. General Election ballot. Ottley, for his part, thinks those who are challenging his candidacy are “grasping at straws.”

“People have said, ‘Oh, you were not here’ and all of that type of stuff, but what they keep missing is what establishes your bona fide residency in this situation, is where you vote. I think it’s title 3 Chapter 13, Section 201 — and I can get the Code wrong, but there’s a particular section of the VI Code that speaks to people who are employees of the Virgin Islands, or employees of the federal government who, because of their employment, they were required to leave. The Code says as long as these folks maintain their bona fide residency in the Virgin Islands by not voting in any other place, they are legally accepted as bona fide residents of the Virgin Islands,” Ottley said in a recent interview with the VI Consortium.

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