So You Want To Be A Politician?

M.A. Dworkin

USVI - We can probably safely assume that very few mothers stand over their 

newborn’s crib and declare: Look at my future Member of Congress, isn’t he/she adorable?

Let’s look at the facts. It’s probably no surprise to anyone that in nearly every poll, whether it be taken globally or nationally, politicians consistently rank as “the most untrustworthy profession,” somewhere below car salesmen and bankers. In major trust and ethics surveys, members of Congress and national elected officials are frequently outranked by car salespeople, lobbyists, and even social media influencers, with single digit ‘trust scores’ being notched up in many countries besides the United States.

According to the Ipsos Global Trustworthiness Index, politicians globally average only a 10% to 15% trust rating, placing them as one of the least trusted professions. Gallup’s annual Honesty and Ethics Poll regularly places members of Congress at the absolute bottom of the list. Routinely, only 7% to 9% of Americans rate the honesty and ethics of Congress members as “high” or “very high.”

Taking all these facts into account, it is somewhat safe to say that since it is difficult to find any sort of poll in the USVI that addresses this issue, we can assume that such polls have not been taken here in the Territory. Therefore, let us try to look past all the naysayers of the current national and global political scenes, and let us try to look at the USVI candidates for the November 2026 election in an objective and optimistic manner; forgetting about the USVI’s recent political scandals, by treating them as an anomaly, and focusing on taking the high road here in the USVI, by declaring that our politicians are the exception, that they rank up near the top of the professions, up in the trustworthy categories of Doctors and Nurses and Members of the Armed Forces. 

Let us believe, for a long moment, that candidates for political office in the USVI are idealists who look to enter these hallowed political ranks so as to ‘make a difference,’ and to make the USVI a decidedly better place to live. Let us believe that they have the altruistic belief that they will be able to say, after they have left office, they have made the U.S. Virgin Islands much better off than when they entered the race.

It is with this great leap of faith that we need to give all the current candidates the benefit of the doubt and believe they are not in it for the money, or the power, but they are truly the “people’s candidate,” and once they get into office they will ‘do the right thing’ and perform their civic duties with the utmost of dignity and righteousness.

And so, the St. Croix Times presents the list of political aspirants that are running in the November 2026 election with this hope that the future for the good of the people of the USVI will be bright and prosperous under new stewardship, and that a simple prayer for the candidates will bring out their absolute best once they get into office. 

Do us proud. Please, please, Do us proud!

The following list of 108 candidates is the unofficial tally from the U.S. Virgin Islands Board of Elections. Since this compilation, on Tuesday May 19, 2026, two candidates have been disqualified for violations of filing requirements: Former Senator James Weber III running for Delegate to Congress; and Roy Sheridan running for Governor.