Politics

Dawson Says Democratic Party Not Responsible For Problems Facing VI

Democratic candidate for governor Angel Dawson passionately defended the Democratic Party during a forum last night, stating emphatically that the party should not be "conflated" with Governor Kenneth Mapp, and that the party was not responsible for the state of the U.S. Virgin Islands. In fact, Mr. Dawson said the party has been the "salvation" of the territory in some cases, and that "we should be careful about chiding" it. Mr. Dawson's resounding endorsement and defense of the Democratic Party came during a 2-hour long forum sponsored by The Virgin Islands Consortium and WTJX-TV Channel 12, which was held at WTJX's studio in Richmond on St. Croix. There, Democratic candidates for governor and lieutenant governor fielded questions from Consortium Founder and President Ernice Gilbert, with the lieutenant governor candidates getting 45 minutes to make their respective cases, while the candidates for governor received just over an hour. While the candidates for lieutenant gove...