Stacey Plaskett elected governor of the US Virgin Islands
The former congressional delegate won nearly 12,000 votes and is set to be sworn in on January 4, a week before Georgia's governor-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms.
CHARLOTTE AMALIE, US Virgin Islands. Stacey Plaskett has been elected governor of the US Virgin Islands, and is set to make history as the first Black woman to hold such office when she is sworn in on January 4.
The attorney will take the oath a week before Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former Atlanta mayor, who won her own race for governor in Georgia's midterm elections and is scheduled to be sworn in on January 11. Caribbean Life reports that this makes Plaskett technically the first Black female governor.
Plaskett finished with nearly 12,000 votes, far ahead of the field. No other candidate passed 3,000.
"You told us what hurt, you told us what mattered, and you remind us what is possible," she told supporters once her victory was clear.
"Tonight in these Virgin Islands, I want to tell a little girl everything is possible for you," she said. "We have secured resources that can help transform these islands, but now we must turn these resources into completed work. Your resilience should never be the government's excuse."
From Congress to Government House
The US Virgin Islands is an American territory whose representatives in Congress are not allowed to vote, though they can take full part in the chamber's day-to-day work.
Plaskett, a Republican earlier in her career, switched to the Democrats more than a decade ago. She rose to national prominence in 2021 as one of nine House managers in the second impeachment of President Donald Trump during his first term, becoming the first delegate from a non-voting territory to serve as an impeachment manager. She has also served on the House Ways and Means Committee.
She succeeds outgoing governor Albert Bryan Jr, who has completed the maximum two consecutive terms and was ineligible to run again.
