After being rejected by the electorate in 2019 as an At Large candidate but is now seeking to re-enter political office as a District candidate, the controversial former legislator Myron V. Walwyn has been aggressively campaigning in the Sixth District and lambasting the current Representative Hon Alvera Maduro-Caines at every turn; however, clergyman and talk show host, Claude O. Skelton-Cline believes Hon Maduro-Caines will prevail at the polls.
Hon Maduro-Caines has in the past defeated all male opponents and is expected to do the same this election, according to Skelton-Cline.
Calling on the people of the district to re-elect Hon Maduro-Caines, Mr Skelton-Cline added on the April 18, 2023, edition of his show Honestly Speaking said, “Myron is an excellent campaigner, and he has his own charisma, but Alvera is the person with the passion and the compassion and the capabilities,” he said.
Walwyn accused of petty campaigning
On the campaign trail, National Democratic Party (NDP) D6 candidate, Mr Walwyn has been using old recordings of Hon Maduro-Caines as part of his campaign tactics to win over the people of the district.
Hon Maduro-Caines, known to be one of the most humble and caring legislators in the VI, has tried to focus her campaign on what she was able to achieve for her district, especially through one of the most challenging four years in
the Virgin Islands as well as the world, and her plans if re-elected.
Skelton-Cline has warned the people of the district, “Don’t let nobody talk down to your representative, don’t let anybody deflate what you know that mother, that woman, that daughter, that aunt has done for you in that community, how her doors have always been open.”
Mr Walwyn, who has been charged with Breach of Trust by a Public Official and the matter is still before the courts, has also been releasing social media videos and advertising on challenges in the Sixth District and pinning them on Hon Maduro-Caines as the sole person responsible for the district’s woes.
Mr Skelton-Cline added that one of the main reasons certain issues have not been addressed in the Sixth District is because those issues have been marginalised and placed on the back burner under previous governments.
Further, Mr Skelton-Cline added that for those not wanting to vote for Mr Walwyn or
the Virgin Islands Party (VIP), they have to remember that Hon Maduro-Caines is new to the VIP and will still be a representative in the Sixth District.
Mr Skelton-Cline added that one of the
main reasons why certain issues have not been addressed in the Sixth
District is because those issues have been marginalized and placed on
the back burner under previous governments.
Maduro-Caines campaigning under VIP for first time
He added that Hon Maduro-Caines, the Junior Minister for Tourism, will be a part of the Government and is deserving of votes from the people of the district.
Hon Maduro-Caines is running in the district as a VIP candidate for the first time after leaving the National Democratic Party (NDP) in January 2020, to join the then-ruling VIP, saying then she had crossed the floor for the sake of getting things done for her beloved district that elected for her 3-consecutive terms.
During her campaign launch speech on March 26, 2023, Hon Maduro-Caines noted that it was while she was on the opposition side of the NDP that her eyes were finally opened and she realised that under the NDP, there was a lack of political will that stunted the growth of the Sixth District.
Meanwhile, Advance Polling Day is today, Thursday, April 20, 2023, and Polling Day is Monday, April 24, 2023.