ST. CROIX — Relying on her undying core of supporters to carry her over the finish line, Alicia Hansen, called “Chucky”, has won a seat in the 32nd Legislature, booting out Senator Kenneth Gittens, who will most likely be out of a seat come early next year.
Mrs. Hansen’s showing was strong; she came in third with a total of 4,513 votes.
Mrs. Hansen had lost her Senate seat following the 2014 general elections because of multiple odds stacked against her — not the least of which being an epic battle waged in the territory’s local and federal courts surrounding questions of moral turpitude and whether she was fit to run for public office. The senator was later pardoned by former Governor John P. de Jongh and, with incessant persistence, attempted to seek reelection by waging a respectable write-in campaign.
Mrs. Hansen came back swinging in 2016, only to be mired in yet another scandal, this time involving her name and whether she was eligible to be on the general election ballot. She would not relent, however, rigorously defending herself during a press conference in September.
“There is no other than Alicia Chucky Hansen,” she began, moving on to thank her supporters for their relentless passion and unwavering stance. “I want to say to you that we knew that when we decided to join this race, we were fully aware that the opposition would try something — anything — to try to block us from being on the ballot.”
That situation was put to rest by Judge Douglas A. Brady in September, who ordered the St. Croix Board of Elections to place Mrs. Hansen’s name back on the ballot, after it had prematurely removed the candidate’s name without giving her due process. Mrs. Hansen had earlier expressed confidence that she would have won the case.
LEGISLATURE OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS - ST. CROIX DISTRICT ST. CROIX (VOTE FOR) 7 Kurt Vialet (DEM). . . . . . . . 5,667 12.24 Novelle E. Francis, Jr. (DEM). . . . 5,126 11.07 Alicia "Chucky" Hansen (IND) . . . . 4,513 9.75 Sammuel Sanes (DEM) . . . . . . . 4,497 9.72 Positive T. A. Nelson (ICM) . . . . 4,221 9.12 Nereida "Nellie" O'Reilly (DEM) . . . 4,175 9.02 Neville James (DEM) . . . . . . . 4,100 8.86 Kenneth L. Gittens (DEM) . . . . . 4,030 8.71 Terrence D. Joseph (DEM) . . . . . 2,807 6.06 Norman Jn Baptiste (IND) . . . . . 1,726 3.73 Robert B. Moorhead (REP) . . . . . 1,647 3.56 Patricia James (IND). . . . . . . 1,567 3.39 Danny Emmanuel (IND). . . . . . . 991 2.14 Duane Howell (IND) . . . . . . . 770 1.66 WRITE-IN (IND). . . . . . . . . 448 .97 Total . . . . . . . . . 46,285
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