ST. CROIX — The conference room at Gertrude’s Restaurant began to fill up at about 10:20 a.m. today, as ardent Alicia Hansen supporters came ready to listen and cheer on their candidate, who they believe has been maligned by the Democratic Party in an apparent attempt to derail her candidacy.<\/p>\n
By the time Mrs. Hansen, whose birth name is Alden Alicia Pickering, arrived, the crowd — about two dozens — erupted with loud salutes, some screaming, “Chucky is back!”, while others yelled chiding words at who they’ve dubbed “the haters.” In little time, Mrs. Hansen was ready to go, introducing herself as “Alicia Chucky Hansen,” emphatically signaling to her challengers that she would not simply roll over and accept defeat.<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
Far from done, however, is Mrs. Hansen’s fight. She said she had retained attorney Lee Rohn to battle her cause in court, and would take whatever legal avenues there were to be on the November General Election ballot.<\/p>\n
The former senator, revealing that she had never met her biological father, also tried to explain the controversy surrounding her names, stating that her adopted parents, whose last name was Hansen, took her from a young age and gave her their surname. She cited Virgin Islands Code, stating that the law makes clear that a candidate does not need to have on the ballot his or her name listed as is on the birth certificate; one could either use their moniker and surname, or legal first name and surname, not both. This very issue was discussed at a June St. Croix Board of Elections meeting<\/a><\/span>. Mrs. Hansen noted that the law also makes clear that the name one registers as, is the name that must be used. What she did not state, though, is that that name first must be accepted as legal. In dispute is whether Alicia Chucky Hansen is legal at all, since Mrs. Hansen’s birth name, which she petitioned the Superior Court to change in July, remains Alden Alicia Pickering.<\/p>\n Mrs. Hansen then pointed to her husband of 40 years, and said she had the marriage certificate to prove it. Taking her word for it, Mrs. Hansen’s legal name — barring any changes that she might have made at that time — should have been Alden Alicia Hansen after receiving her husband’s last name. The senator also provided a certification document from Miguel A. Rodriguez, special assistant to the secretary of education in Puerto Rico, which she says backs up her claim that she had been called Alicia Hansen after being adopted.<\/p>\n That document, however, lists Mrs. Hansen as Alicia Hansen Calendario<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n