Politics
Daniel Gibbs elected Senator for Saint-Martin
Daniel Gibbs (Les Républicains) won Saint-Martin's Senate seat on September 27, beating Valérie Damaseau 13 votes to 11 in the second round, according to official Sénat results. His six-year term began October 1.
By SXM Daily ·
Daniel Gibbs (Les Républicains) has been elected Senator for Saint-Martin. He won the second round of the September 27 senatorial election by 13 votes to 11 over Valérie Damaseau, according to official Sénat results.
He succeeds Annick Pétrus. His six-year term began October 1, according to Le Pélican and Faxinfo.
The vote
Saint-Martin's single Senate seat is decided by 25 senatorial electors, all of whom voted.
In the first round, no candidate reached the 13 votes needed. Damaseau (Divers centre) received 11, Gibbs 6, Raphaël Sanchez (Divers gauche) 4, Pétrus (Divers droite) 3, Bernadette Venthou-Dumaine (Divers) 1 and Tristan Choppin Haudry de Janvry (UDR) 0, according to the Sénat.
Only Gibbs and Damaseau stood in the second round, held the same afternoon. Gibbs won 13 votes to 11, with 24 valid ballots and one spoiled. Outgoing senator Annick Pétrus, who received 3 votes in the first round, did not stand in the second round. In a statement after the vote, she said she had backed Gibbs, according to Le Pélican and Faxinfo.
Gibbs, a former député and former president of the Collectivité, sits with Les Républicains, the same group as Pétrus, according to Le Pélican. He named the budget, health and education as his priorities, Faxinfo reported. Damaseau was the candidate backed by President Louis Mussington's RSM-A majority, according to the reports.
Changes in the majority
Several councillors reportedly left the RSM-A group around the vote, though the two outlets give different accounts. Le Pélican reported that Raphaël Sanchez, Valérie Fonrose and Martine Beldor left the group days before the election to sit as independents, leaving the majority with 12 councillors, or 11 without Pétrus. Faxinfo reported that Venthou-Dumaine and Sanchez had already run separately, that Beldor and Fonrose also left, and that Pétrus announced she was leaving the group.
SXM Daily has not found an official list of the Territorial Council's groups since the changes.
Faxinfo named Marie-Dominique Ramphort as Gibbs's alternate (suppléante).
Sources
- https://senatoriales2026.senat.fr/departement/978-saint-martin
- https://senatoriales2026.senat.fr/media/6aba5638cea5b_S%C3%A9natoriales%202026%20-%20R%C3%A9sultats%20-%20Tour%202%20-%20D%C3%A9partements_2026-09-28_01h23.csv
- https://www.lepelican-journal.com/senatoriales-la-majorite-vacille-daniel-gibbs-est-elu-au-second-tour/
- https://www.faxinfo.fr/senatoriales-daniel-gibbs-elu-senateur-de-saint-martin/
Source: https://senatoriales2026.senat.fr/departement/978-saint-martin