1970 United States Virgin Islands general election

The 1970 United States Virgin Islands general election in large part took place on November 3, 1970, to elect public officials in the United States Virgin Islands, with a run-off for the gubernatorial race taking place on November 17, 1970.

Candidates for United States Virgin Islands's at-large congressional district and the legislature did not have their political affiliations listed on election returns.

Gubernatorial election

1970 United States Virgin Islands gubernatorial election

November 3, 1970 (general) November 17, 1970 (runoff) 1974 →

Nominee Melvin H. Evans Cyril King Alexander Farrelly Party Progressive Republican Independent Citizens Democratic Running mate David E. Maas Hugh M. Smith Hugh M. Smith General vote 4,906 5,413 4,628 Percentage 32.82% 36.22% 30.96% Runoff vote 8,259 7,462 Eliminated Percentage 52.54% 47.46%

General election results Runoff results Evans   40–50%   50–60% King   70–80% Farrelly   40–50%

Governor before election Melvin H. Evans Progressive Republican Elected Governor Melvin H. Evans Progressive Republican

The 1970 United States Virgin Islands gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1970, to elect the Governor of the United States Virgin Islands with a run-off on November 17, 1970. It was the first election for governor in the territory since the passage of 1966 Amending Act which allowed residents to elect their own governors. While Independent Citizens Movement nominee Cyril King won the first round, incumbent territorial governor Melvin H. Evans won the runoff election by a small margin to a full term in office.

All three nominees in this election have eventually served as Governor at some point, as King would be elected to the office in 1974, and Farrelly in 1986 and 1990.

It is important to known that the election of Melvin H. Evans was last and only time a Republican has won the governorship in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Endorsements

Alexander Farrelly (eliminated in general election)

U.S. Senators

• Ted Kennedy from Massachusetts

Results

1970 United States Virgin Islands gubernatorial election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent Citizens Movement	Cyril King	5,413	36.22%
	Progressive Republican	Melvin H. Evans	4,906	32.82%
	Democratic	Alexander Farrelly	4,628	30.96%
Total votes			14,947	100%

1970 United States Virgin Islands gubernatorial runoff election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Republican	Melvin H. Evans	8,259	52.54%	+19.72
	Independent Citizens Movement	Cyril King	7,462	47.46%	+11.24
Total votes			15,721	100%	N/A

Results by island

General election

Island	Evans		King		Farrelly		Margin
St. Croix	1,743	23.02%	3,038	36.86%	3,038	40.12%	+3.26
St. John	55	13.25%	302	72.77%	58	13.98%	+58.79
St. Thomas	3,108	44.66%	2,319	33.32%	1,532	22.02%	+11.34

Runoff election

Island	Evans		King		Margin
St. Croix	3,967	53.51%	3,446	46.49%	+7.02
St. John	109	23.14%	362	76.86%	+53.72
St. Thomas	4,183	53.38%	3,654	46.62%	+6.76

Delegate to the United States House of Representatives

The 1970 United States House of Representatives election in the Virgin Islands took place on November 3, 1970. Democrat Ron de Lugo became the first delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from the Virgin Islands.

1970 United States House of Representatives election in the Virgin Islands

November 3, 1970 1972 →

Nominee Ron de Lugo Lucia A. Galiber Victor G. Schneider Party Democratic Nonpartisan Nonpartisan Popular vote 5,336 4,772 4,287 Percentage 37.07% 33.15% 29.78%

Results by island Lugo   40–50% Galiber   40–50% Schneider   70–80%

Elected Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives Ron de Lugo Democratic

Results

1970 United States House of Representatives election in the Virgin Islands

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ron de Lugo	5,336	37.07%
	Nonpartisan	Lucia A. Galiber	4,772	33.15%
	Nonpartisan	Victor G. Schneider	4,287	29.78%
Total votes			14,395	100%

Results by island

Island	Lugo		Galiber		Schneider		Margin
St. Croix	1,978	29.98%	1,901	28.81%	2,719	41.21%	+11.24
St. John	62	15.57%	282	70.85%	54	13.57%	+55.28
St. Thomas	3,296	44.55%	2,589	34.99%	1,514	20.46%	+9.56

Territorial Legislature

1970 United States Virgin Islands legislative election

← 1968 November 3, 1970 (1970-11-03) 1972 →
All 15 seats in the Legislature of the Virgin Islands
Majority party   Leader John L. Maduro Party Nonpartisan Leader since 1969 Leader's seat At-large Total seats 15 seats Total votes 121,181
President before election John L. Maduro Nonpartisan Elected President John L. Maduro Nonpartisan

The 1970 United States Virgin Islands legislative election was held on November 3, 1970, to elect members of the 9th Virgin Islands Legislature. Voters were allowed to choose multiple candidates per district. John L. Maduro was elected president of the legislature at the start of the legislative session.

At-large district

1970 United States Virgin Islands legislative election (at-large district)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Alexander Moorhead	5,713	20.11%
	Nonpartisan	John L. Maduro	5,114	18.00%
	Nonpartisan	Arturo Soto	4,959	17.46%
	Nonpartisan	Augustin Doward	4,654	16.38%
	Nonpartisan	Leslie Alfred Millin	4,055	14.27%
	Nonpartisan	George G. O'Reilly	3,915	13.78%
Total votes			28,410	100%

St. Thomas–St. John district

One senator from the St. Thomas–St. John district was required to be elected from St. John, regardless of how they placed in the election.

1970 United States Virgin Islands legislative election (St. Thomas–St. John)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Athniel C. Ottley	3,544	6.57%
	Nonpartisan	Earle B. Ottley	3,494	6.48%
	Nonpartisan	Virdin C. Brown	3,402	6.31%
	Nonpartisan	Percival H. Reese	3,342	6.20%
	Nonpartisan	Ariel Melchior	3,204	5.94%
	Nonpartisan	A. David Puritz	3,169	5.88%
	Nonpartisan	Freeman Dawson	3,102	5.75%
	Nonpartisan	Gaylord A. Sprauve	3,046	5.65%
	Nonpartisan	Anthony Cerge	3,008	5.58%
	Nonpartisan	Louis P. Hestres	2,982	5.53%
	Nonpartisan	Liston A. Davis	2,971	5.51%
	Nonpartisan (St. John)	Elroy A. Sprauve	2,917	5.41%
	Nonpartisan (St. John)	Theovald E. Moorehead	2,862	5.31%
	Nonpartisan	Edward J. Moran	2,834	5.25%
	Nonpartisan	Richard R. Maguire	1,641	3.04%
	Nonpartisan	Thyra Hodge Smith	1,374	2.55%
	Nonpartisan	Luther Benjamin	1,372	2.54%
	Nonpartisan	Jacob M. Monsanto	1,292	2.39%
	Nonpartisan	Rene S. Danet	1,272	2.36%
	Nonpartisan	David Vialet	1,179	2.18%
	Nonpartisan (St. John)	Richard Ellington	1,107	2.05%
	Nonpartisan (St. John)	Vincen M. Clendinen	652	1.21%
	Nonpartisan	Frank W. Lichtenberg II	116	0.22%
Total votes			53,882	100%

St. Croix district

1970 United States Virgin Islands legislative election (St. Croix )

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Jiame Garciaz	2,483
	Nonpartisan	Lew Muckle	2,400
	Nonpartisan	Philip C. Clark	2,387
	Nonpartisan	Claude A. Molloy	2,368
	Nonpartisan	Hector Cintron	2,335
	Nonpartisan	Felix A. Francis	2,235
	Nonpartisan	Randall N. James	2,179
	Nonpartisan	Frits E. Lawaetz	2,177
	Nonpartisan	Edgar D. Mullgrav	2,161
	Nonpartisan	Arnold M. Golden	2,090
	Nonpartisan	Helen I. Joseph	2,089
	Nonpartisan	Hortense M. Rowe	2,089
	Nonpartisan	Joanna P. Lindquist	2,046
	Nonpartisan	Juan Centeno	2,004
	Nonpartisan	Clifford J. Johnson	1,931
	Nonpartisan	Rafael Escudero	1,777
	Nonpartisan	Santiago Garcia	1,449
	Nonpartisan	Jose Figueroa	1,390
	Nonpartisan	David M. Hamilton	1,233
	Nonpartisan	Faith Dane Johnson	66
Total votes			38,889	100%