Six years ago, 30 Republicans gathered in a meeting room in Windward Passage on St. Thomas and voted to oust John Canegata from the chairmanship of the territorial party. Canegata said the meeting was an “illegal” gathering organized by “rogues.” Canegata, with the help of court rulings and the support of the local Board Elections, hung onto the chairmanship for half a dozen years while two of his prime opponents at the Windward Passage meeting passed away — Holland Redfield and Herbert Schoenbohm.
But with the help of the Republican National Committee on Tuesday, Gordon Ackley dealt what could be a fatal blow to Canegata’s chairmanship.
The RNC monitored a caucus where registered Republican voters could come into one of three sites — Company House Hotel in Christiansted on St. Croix, Bluebeard’s Castle on St. Thomas, and American Legion Post 131 on St. John. The RNC had six representatives in the territory to monitor the voting. Canegata had not filed to be on the ballot as he had not filed to be considered at the 2016 Windward Passage meeting. And the rules drawn up by the RNC say write-in ballots would not be considered.
J. Justin Riemer, chief counsel for the RNC, in an email Monday to Canegata, said, “Please do not suggest voters write in your names since write-in votes are not permitted. You had every opportunity to file as a candidate and, despite our encouragement that you do, opted against it. Soliciting write-in votes will do nothing but inject confusion into the voting process and disenfranchise Virgin Islands Republicans.”
Canegata, however, shows no sign of giving up. He did not reply to requests from the Source about his concerns about the caucus.
He has reportedly been on the radio stating his case. He has argued that the RNC is acting like a colonizer telling Virgin Islanders what to do.
Ackley’s response is, “It is their (RNC) party. They can do what they want. His analogy is that a McDonald’s in the Virgin Islands can’t disregard the rules set by the national franchise.”
After the caucus ended Tuesday, Ackley told the Source that turnout was good, and his feeling was “People overwhelmingly wanted a change.”
The official count of votes won’t be released until 10 a.m. Wednesday. Ackley ran unopposed for the chairmanship. The only races being contested are for National Committeeman and National Committeewoman. Running for the former are John Clendenin and Jevon William. Contesting for committeewomen are April Newland and Antoinette Gumbs-Hecht.
Reimer ended his email to Canegata on Monday by saying, “Any failure by you to relinquish control over the state party or any of its assets following certification of the caucus will be met with appropriate legal action. In the meantime, the RNC will welcome the new Chairman, National Committeeman, and National Committeewoman at its upcoming April Spring Training in Memphis. If you are interested in remaining involved with state party affairs, we encourage you to discuss this with the new leadership and/or run for a position in 2024 in a process that will be closely monitored by the RNC.”
The Virgin Islands has 1,986 registered Republicans out of a total of 54,097 registered voters in the territory.
Editor’s Note: This story has been corrected to say that John Clendenin ran for National Committeeman, not Dudley Fabio, who ran for another post.
