Samuel Baptiste is a United States Virgin Islands

United States Virgin Islands

The Virgin Islands of the United States are a group of islands in the Caribbean that are an insular area of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles.The U.S...

 politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

 and businessman. He was most recently a Democratic

Democratic Party of the Virgin Islands

The Democratic Party is a political party in the U.S. Virgin Islands. It won the gubernatorial elections of 2006 when its candidate John de Jongh was elected with 57.3 %.At the last elections, 7 November 2006, the party won 8 out of 15 seats....

 candidate for Lieutenant Governor of the United States Virgin Islands

Lieutenant Governor of the United States Virgin Islands

The following is a list of Lieutenant Governors of the United States Virgin Islands.*David Earle Maas - Republican...

 in 2010 as the running mate

Running mate

A running mate is a person running together with another person on a joint ticket during an election. The term is most often used in reference to the person in the subordinate position but can also properly be used when referring to both candidates, such as "Michael Dukakis and Lloyd Bentsen were...

 of Senator Adlah Donastorg. He is married to Darlene Carty-Baptiste.

Early life

Samuel Baptiste was born on Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands

Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands

Saint Croix is an island in the Caribbean Sea, and a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands , an unincorporated territory of the United States. Formerly the Danish West Indies, they were sold to the United States by Denmark in the Treaty of the Danish West Indies of...

, on December 19, 1963. His mother, Elaine Baptiste was from Willikies

Willikies

Willikies is a small settlement in the east of Antigua. It is located to the north of Nonsuch Bay, between Seaton's and Indian Town Point....

, Antigua

Antigua

Antigua , also known as Waladli, is an island in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region, the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua means "ancient" in Spanish and was named by Christopher Columbus after an icon in Seville Cathedral, Santa Maria de la...

, while his father, Lennard Baptiste, was originally from the town of Castle Bruce

Castle Bruce

Castle Bruce is a village on the east coast of Dominica. It is the largest settlement in St. David Parish, with a population of 1,339....

, Dominica

Dominica

Dominica , officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island nation in the Lesser Antilles region of the Caribbean Sea, south-southeast of Guadeloupe and northwest of Martinique. Its size is and the highest point in the country is Morne Diablotins, which has an elevation of . The Commonwealth...

. He was raised in Frederiksted, where he attended Claude O. Markoe Elementary School and Arthur Richards Junior High School. Baptiste graduated from high school

High school

High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

 in Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

.

Baptiste enlisted in the U.S. Army following his graduation from high school. He remained a member of the Army for thirteen years. He was based at the with the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg

Fort Bragg (North Carolina)

Fort Bragg is a major United States Army installation, in Cumberland and Hoke counties, North Carolina, U.S., mostly in Fayetteville but also partly in the town of Spring Lake. It was also a census-designated place in the 2010 census and had a population of 39,457. The fort is named for Confederate...

 in North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

. Baptiste was honorably discharged in March 1997.

Education

Baptitse received a bachelor's degree

Bachelor's degree

A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...

 in business administration from the University of the Virgin Islands

University of the Virgin Islands

The University of the Virgin Islands is a public university located in the United States Virgin Islands.-Academics:The university has five academic divisions: Business, Education, Humanities and Social Sciences, Nursing, and Science and Mathematics. UVI offers several graduate degree programs and...

 in 2001. He later obtained two master's degree

Master's degree

A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...

s in business administration and public administration

Public administration

Public Administration houses the implementation of government policy and an academic discipline that studies this implementation and that prepares civil servants for this work. As a "field of inquiry with a diverse scope" its "fundamental goal.....

 from the University of the Virgin Islands in 2009.

Business career

Baptiste runs a H&R Block

H&R Block

H&R Block is a tax preparation company in the United States, claiming more than 22 million customers worldwide, with offices in Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom. The Kansas City-based company also offers banking, personal finance and business consulting services.Founded in 1955 by brothers...

 franchise

Franchising

Franchising is the practice of using another firm's successful business model. The word 'franchise' is of anglo-French derivation - from franc- meaning free, and is used both as a noun and as a verb....

, located in Villa La Reine on Saint Croix. He also owns the Virgin Islands Training Institute.

He was employed at Hovensa

Hovensa

Hovensa is a petroleum refinery located on the island of St. Croix in the United States Virgin Islands. The refinery is a joint venture between Hess Corporation and Petroleos de Venezuela that mostly supplies heating oil and gasoline to the U.S Gulf Coast and the eastern seaboard with the crude...

, an oil refinery

Oil refinery

An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and refined into more useful petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt base, heating oil, kerosene, and liquefied petroleum gas...

 in Saint Croix, for ten years before resigning in 2010 to run for Lieutenant Governor.

Political career

Baptiste served as an assistant commissioner of Property and Procurement under former U.S. Virgin Islands Governor Roy Schneider in August 1997. Baptiste also unsuccessfully ran for Governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands in 2002 as a Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

.

On July 25, 2010, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Senator Adlah Donastorg announced that Baptiste would be his running mate for Lieutenant Governor in the upcoming 2010 gubernatorial election

United States Virgin Islands gubernatorial election, 2010

The United States Virgin Islands gubernatorial election of 2010 was held on November 2, 2010, and won by incumbent Democratic Governor John de Jongh...

. Donastorg and Baptiste were defeated in the 2010 Democratic primary election

Primary election

A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....

on September 11, 2010, by incumbent Governor John de Jongh. Donatorg and Baptiste came in second place in the primary, garnering 4,300 votes, or 30.61% of the total vote.