June 4, 2008 — Recent shifts by V.I. delegates have given Barack Obama a seven-to-one lead over Hillary Clinton in the territory, with one delegate to the Democratic Convention remaining uncommitted.
On Tuesday Obama clinched the number of delegates needed to make him the presumptive Democratic candidate for the 2008 presidential election against Republican John McCain. A number of superdelegates around the country threw their support to Obama Tuesday.
After the Democratic primary in February, the delegate vote count in the territory was five for Obama, two for Clinton and two uncommitted. On Wednesday the vote was seven for Obama, one for Clinton and one uncommitted.
V.I. residents voted close to 90 percent for Obama in the February primary, electing six half-vote delegates, all pledged to Obama. That accounted for three of the territory's nine votes, with the other six votes held by superdelegates, chosen not by the voters directly, but because they held public or party offices.
Two of these superdelegates, Gov. John deJongh Jr. and Democratic National Committee member Cecil Benjamin, announced they supported Obama. Two others, Delegate Donna M. Christensen and DNC member Kevin Rodriguez, said that they were for Clinton, and the other two DNC members, Carol Burke and Marylyn Stapleton, were uncommitted.
That lineup stayed stationary for month, but in May things got interesting.
According to Democratic Convention Watch, Rodriguez switched from Clinton to Obama May 10. A number of other superdelegates also made changes in that direction.
But on May 27, when Clinton's ship was clearly sinking, Rodriguez switched back to support the New York senator. The website noted a number of single switches, largely from Clinton to Obama, but showed no other indications of a double switch.
In the meantime, Burke moved from uncommitted to the Obama camp, giving the Illinois senator a total of six V.I. votes. As of June 4, Stapleton was still in the uncommitted column.
After it became clear that the nomination battle was over, Christensen issued a statement congratulating Obama on his victory and pledging her support in the fall campaign, bringing the V.I. total for Obama to seven.
DeJongh also issued a statement saying that Obama's expected nomination was "a defining moment in history," adding, "I'm proud to have endorsed Sen. Obama along with my wife, Cecile, who has worked tirelessly by campaigning for the senator's candidacy."
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