Representative Donna M. Christensen

Donna Marie Christian-Christensen, formerly Donna Christian-Green (born September 19, 1945), is an American physician and politician who served as the 4th elected non-voting Delegate from the United States Virgin Islands’ at-large district to the United States House of Representatives from 1997 until 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the first woman to represent the territory in the U.S. Congress and later became the first woman to win the party’s nomination for governor in Virgin Islands history. Over nine consecutive terms in Congress, she contributed to the legislative process during a significant period in American political life, participating in the democratic process and representing the interests of her Virgin Islands constituents.

Born on September 19, 1945, Christian-Christensen grew up in the United States Virgin Islands, where she developed an early awareness of the unique political and social status of the territory within the American system. Her upbringing in the islands informed her later advocacy on issues of territorial rights, health care access, and economic development. Although detailed accounts of her early childhood are less prominent in the public record, her later professional choices reflect a sustained commitment to public service and community health in the Virgin Islands.

Christian-Christensen pursued higher education and medical training before entering public life, becoming a physician and building a career in medicine prior to her election to Congress. Her medical background shaped her policy interests and legislative priorities, particularly in the areas of public health, health care delivery, and the specific health challenges facing residents of the Caribbean and U.S. territories. As a practicing physician, she gained firsthand experience with the health care needs of underserved populations, experience that later informed her work on federal health policy and territorial health infrastructure.

Transitioning from medicine into politics, Christian-Christensen became active in Democratic Party politics in the Virgin Islands and emerged as a leading public figure in the territory. Her professional stature as a physician and her engagement with community issues helped propel her to elected office. In 1996, she was elected as the Delegate to the United States House of Representatives from the Virgin Islands’ at-large district, taking office in January 1997. As a non-voting Delegate, she could not cast final votes on the House floor but was able to introduce legislation, serve on committees, and participate fully in debate, thereby influencing federal policy affecting the Virgin Islands and other U.S. territories.

During her nine terms in Congress, from 1997 to 2015, Christian-Christensen served through multiple presidential administrations and shifting congressional majorities, a period marked by debates over health care reform, economic policy, and U.S. engagement in global affairs. She participated in the legislative process on behalf of her constituents, working to secure federal resources for the Virgin Islands and to address issues such as health care access, disaster preparedness, and economic development in the territory. Her tenure coincided with significant national developments, including the implementation of major health policy changes, and she consistently brought a territorial and medical perspective to those discussions.

Christian-Christensen’s political activity extended beyond the Virgin Islands and the House floor. During the 2008 electoral campaign, she appeared in a television advertisement endorsing the reelection of neighboring Puerto Rico Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá. Although Acevedo Vilá subsequently faced a twenty-four-count federal grand jury indictment for corruption after the November 2008 elections, he was ultimately found not guilty by a jury, though he lost his bid for reelection. Christian-Christensen herself remained a dominant political figure in the Virgin Islands, winning her 2010 reelection campaign with 71.22 percent of the vote, a result that underscored her strong support among voters in the territory.

In 2014, Christian-Christensen chose not to seek re-election to her congressional seat, ending her service in the House in January 2015 after nine terms. Instead, she ran for Governor of the United States Virgin Islands, making history as the first woman to win the Democratic Party’s gubernatorial nomination in the territory. In the general election, she advanced to a runoff but ultimately lost to Kenneth Mapp. Her gubernatorial campaign marked a significant moment in the political evolution of the Virgin Islands, highlighting both her longstanding prominence in territorial politics and the growing role of women in the highest levels of public office there.

Following her departure from Congress, Christian-Christensen remained an influential voice on issues affecting the Virgin Islands and U.S. territories more broadly, particularly in the realms of health policy and territorial status. Her career, spanning medicine and politics, established her as a pioneering figure: the first woman to represent the Virgin Islands in the U.S. Congress, a long-serving Delegate who helped shape federal policy for nearly two decades, and a trailblazer for women seeking executive office in the territory.