VI Consortium And WTJX Partner For Democratic Forum On Tuesday. It Will Be Moderated By VIC Founder Ernice Gilbert.

Two Democratic gubernatorial candidates will wave goodbye to the 2018 election cycle on the night of August 4, when one of the three teams vying to be the Democratic Party’s nominee — Angel Dawson and Marise James, Albert Bryan and Tregenza Roach and Allison Petrus and Sammuel Sanes — will emerge as the winner to face Governor Kenneth Mapp and the independent candidates for the November 6 general election.

Before the primary, however, the three teams will field questions from VI Consortium President and Founder Ernice Gilbert during a gubernatorial candidate forum set for Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. at the WTJX studios in Richmond on St. Croix.

The event is a partnership between WTJX and The Virgin Islands Consortium, and will be carried live on both companies’ Facebook pages, as well as WTJX TV and WTJX-FM 93.1. The forum will re-air on WTJX TV on Thursday, July 19 at 10:00 a.m. and Sunday, July 22 at 4:00 p.m. on Channel 12/90. The full video will also be published on The Consortium’s website and YouTube page.

Mr. Gilbert and WTJX CEO Tanya-Marie Singh, both expressed a desire for an event that challenges the candidates with questions pertinent to the great issues the U.S. Virgin Islands faces. “Well, less than a year ago the territory was ravaged by two Category 5 storms, bringing the USVI to its knees and whiplashing an economy that was already weak prior to the storms. We face many issues as a territory and I believe whoever wants to lead these islands must answer the difficult questions,” Mr. Gilbert said.

“Every election cycle, WTJX prides itself in fulfilling its mandate to educate by informing voters of their choices,” Ms. Singh said. “WTJX’s duty to the taxpayers, who fund elections, is to present a professional platform so that the public can weigh candidates positions in an unbiased and trusted environment.

“The rise of social media has allowed for the democratization of content which has resulted in a dangerous blurring between fact and point of view. Candidates deserve the uncluttered setting that WTJX provides so that they may adequately address the territory’s voters. With the power of our reach on television, radio, and online, along with the Virgin Islands Consortium’s following, which is nothing short of spectacular, on Tuesday we will bring you the definitive primary gubernatorial forum,” Ms. Singh said.

The forum will begin with the candidates for lieutenant governor, followed by the main event featuring the candidates for governor.