Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett has been hitting the campaign trail hard in recent weeks. Not for herself, but for Democrats in states hit hard by hurricanes the way the U.S. Virgin Islands have been impacted.
Plaskett, who is unopposed in the Nov. 6 general election, has been closely working with one candidate, in particular: U.S. Senate nominee, Beto O’Rourke (D-Tex.). O’Rourke is running against U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), and currently serves with Plaskett in the U.S. House.
Plaskett calls him a friend and an ally in the fight for hurricane recovery funding after The Lonestar State was hit hard by Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
Plaskett tells USVI News that she hopes to leave the Islands to campaign for O’Rourke and several other candidates in both Nevada and Florida before Election Day. Florida, she said, is important especially in recent days following Hurricane Michael. The damage from that storm is now estimated at more than $8 billion.
With the struggle to get immediate help from Washington to the U.S. Virgin Islands following Hurricanes Irma and Maria, Plaskett hopes that having more help from those states impacted, will help the Virgin Islands down the road, especially because she is a non-voting member of Congress.
“We have a really close relationship and I’ve relied a lot on the Florida Members to support us in issues and in legislation,” Plaskett said. “They’ve been really great about that. So, having more Members from the Florida delegation that are Democrats I think really will support the agenda of the Virgin Islands.”
The latest projections show Democrats need to flip or win at least 23 seats to take back the House. That’s likely, Plaskett said. She expects the Democratic Party to take upwards of 30 seats in the midterms.
