Sheena Pitts Elected UDP Chair After Landslide Victory

Another woman who is celebrating victory is attorney, Sheena Pitts.  Pitts was elected by a significant margin yesterday, garnering 326 of the 505 votes cast in the election of chairperson.  Pitts, a novice to the political forefront, went into yesterday’s convention extremely confident, where she told the media of her impeccable reputation and integrity.  While Pitts had two contenders, she had an additional Ace with the public endorsement of the party leader, Tracy Panton.  According to Panton, it is only fair that Pitts be rewarded for the work she put into the party.

Tracy Panton, UDP Leader: “They’ve done the hard work. We have been at this for a while, a couple of years now, and when nobody else wanted to come in the center of the fire with me, they did. And they did the hard work, and I think they’re deserving of an opportunity to hold the office. It’s not going to be easy work. The heavy lifting has only now just begun and I need people who are committed, people with credibility, people who have integrity, to help support the work that we need to do as a party.”

Reporter: Will you be able to work just as successfully with, should any of the other candidates be victorious today? 

Tracy Panton, UDP Leader: “Absolutely. I have always, it’s not about Tracy Panton. It’s about regaining the trust and the confidence of the people. The United Democratic Party must rebuild. Our country is in shambles. The current administration is unraveling and we need to be sure that we are ready whenever the next elections are called.”

Pitts also had the support of UDP Senator Patrick Faber.  Faber spoke with Love News yesterday where he explained why his support extended to Pitts whilst making a comparison with the other two candidates.

Patrick Faber: “I am with the Honorable Tracy Taegar Panton as the leader of this party, 150%. And I am about also supporting her picks. The Honorable Sheena, who you know is my colleague in the Senate, and I would not have that any other way. I begged the party leader, as Leader of the Opposition, to ensure that Sheena is there because I know that she is a fighter for this party. But what people must also remember is that we had a convention that demonstrated the will of the people before. That was on October 20, 2024. At that time Roosevelt Blades was nowhere around the party. He had abandoned the party and left. John Saldivar had endorsed Ms.Pitts 100% at the time. And so all that we’re doing today is making official what happened from October 2024. Sheena has not flinched. She has done the job of the chair since that time and she will continue to do that job after she’s elected today because she has what it takes.”

Reporter: Do you fear ulterior motives by any of the other candidates? 

Patrick Faber: “Well I won’t get into all the negatives but yes it’s best that the party leader has her pick because we’ve seen where differences in the relationship between the chair and the leader or the chair and the rest of the party makes for a very very unpopular, divisive kind of situation. And so for us, for me, the best thing to do is to have the greatest level of cohesion between the leader and the chairman. And again, that’s one of the reasons I support Sheena 100%.”

Out of a possible 521 delegates, a total of 505 delegates cast ballots in the races for Chairman and Vice Chairman. The final tally showed Pitts receiving 326 votes, John Saldivar receiving 99 votes, and Roosevelt Blades receiving 75 votes.  In the vice chairman election, John Castillo received 300 votes, Ivan Williams received 183 votes, with Castillo ultimately elected.  During convention business, delegates also considered a motion from the Western Caucus to amend the UDP constitution to expand the delegate base. The proposal sought to move beyond the current structure of 16 delegates and 5 alternates per constituency, totaling 21 delegates each, by introducing new criteria for broader representation.  However, the motion failed to secure the necessary two-thirds majority required under Article 18 of the UDP Constitution and was therefore defeated. Party officials confirmed that the motion’s proponents have the option to re-table the proposal at a future convention or meeting should they wish to pursue constitutional reform.