Oakland Benta

Independent

Oakland Benta

U.S. Virgin Islands Governor winner?

$62.8K

NOV 4, 2026

General Election

Voters choose the office holder.

3 more

Overview

Current roleState Senator

PartyIndependent

GenderMale

BackgroundLaw enforcement officer

Notable personal detailsOakland Benta is a U.S. Virgin Islands politician and retired law enforcement officer. He served in the Virgin Islands Police Department for more than 15 years and rose to become St. Croix Chief of Police. He was elected to the 33rd Legislature of the Virgin Islands as a senator representing the St. Croix District in 2019 and ran for re-election in 2020. He is an Independent candidate for Governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands in 2026.

SourcesShow

newsfeed.wtjx.org viiq.org viconsortium.com stthomassource.com electionarchive.vivote.gov oaklandca.gov legvi.org wikizero.org en.wikipedia.org bonta.asmdc.org politics1.com vivote.gov ballotpedia.s3.amazonaws.com govinfo.gov nateforoakland.com bettiono.com barbaralee4oakland.com empoweroakland.com substack-post-media.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com reddit.com linkedin.com wp.viconsortium.com oaklandreport.org citizensoakland.org visupremecourt.hosted.civiclive.com cdnsm5-hosted.civiclive.com vi.gov ballotpedia.org calmatters.org tiktok.com instagram.com facebook.com wikidata.org uscodeweb1.house.gov history.house.gov ziplook.house.gov docs.house.gov democrats-naturalresources.house.gov cba.ballotpedia.org legislation.ballotpedia.org developer.ballotpedia.org senate.gov usc-cdn.house.gov nga.org uscode.house.gov ncsl.org simon.house.gov energy.senate.gov nass.org

Positions

LiberalConservative

Economy & Taxes

Benta has said he was driven to run for office by a failing economy. In legislative work, he supported tax incentive bills aimed at boosting development and expressed concern about changes that would increase cannabis tax revenue while leaving local farmers out of major economic opportunities.

Healthcare

Benta has said he would focus on health care and on getting a permanent hospital built, with a floating hospital as an alternative. As a senator, he also chaired the Legislature’s Committee on Health, Hospitals and Human Services and took part in hearings on public health and hospital funding issues.

Public Safety & Guns

Oakland Benta has expressed a law-enforcement-centered approach to gun violence, arguing that a proposed Office of Gun Violence Prevention was redundant because existing government bodies already handle that work. His record also shows a long background in the Virgin Islands Police Department, including service as St. Croix Police Chief.

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