Beautiful Virgin Islands

Friday, Apr 03, 2026

Entering political race was a matter of ‘put up or shut up’ - Zoe J. Walcott

Entering political race was a matter of ‘put up or shut up’ - Zoe J. Walcott

The former Vice President of the Virgin Islands Party (VIP), now a Territorial At-Large Candidate in the 2023 elections in the Virgin Islands 2023 Elections, Ms Zoe J. Walcott, said her decision to contest this year’s elections was a matter of putting up or shutting up.

Ms Walcott, speaking to Cindy Rosan on the April 3, 2023, edition of Cut Deep, said although she recently assumed the post of Vice President, she has had to step down in order to run for elections.

“I joined the Virgin Islands Party in an attempt to bring about some change. We've been talking about some issues that we continue to see within the structure itself and I thought that I could make some meaningful interjection along with [President] Sharia de Castro,” she said.

“I felt two women at the head would be able, to a large extent, bring things to a point where we started to become a bit more comfortable with establishing our expectations from the group as well as adding that nurturing aspect to it that allowed the group to sort of extend their reach to the populace,” she added.

Ms Walcott said one of her roles as Vice president was also securing candidates and while she did not have the intention to run, it became a necessity after she was encouraged to join the race.

Ms Zoe J. Walcott, right, speaking with Cindy Rosan on the April 3, 2023, edition of Cut Deep said although she recently assumed the post of Vice President, she has had to step down in order to run for elections.



Running for Elections 2023

“But when you have used the same technique to secure candidates for the Virgin Islands Party and then they flip it on you, right? It became a situation were you put up or shut up.”

Walcott detailed that in reality she has had many people reach out to her for touching and changing their lives for whatever reason, “Wherever I go, I shine my light. So the thought process was that I could do this in a real way and in a big way,” she said in her decision to run.

Meanwhile, addressing concerns raised by Mitsy J. Ellis-Simpson on an unfair election process for the VIP's candidates, Ms Walcott said due process was followed despite other suggestions.

“It is disingenuous… for persons to take a stance that would suggest that they are trying to get votes by establishing some line of pity format, because that’s what it ended up looking like,” she said in reference to Ms Ellis-Simpson.
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