CHRISTIANSTED — Senator Alicia “Chucky” Hansen wants your help in her bid to become your elected St. Croix representative once again.
Hansen, who was first elected to the Legislature of the U.S. Virgin Islands 33 years ago, continues to be a political force of nature like no other in the territory.
But that doesn’t mean that Hansen doesn’t want or need your support.
The veteran St. Croix senator, who may have been elected to political office more than any other representative in U.S. Virgin Islands history, has been going door-to-door campaigning and meeting with old friends on the Big Island recently.
“Every movement needs soldiers,” Hansen said to her “troops” assembled on Wednesday. “Thank you for representing for St. Croix and pushing me everyday to be all that I can be.”
Hansen also has the unique distinction of perennially being the top vote getter in St. Croix senatorial elections, maybe more often than any other senator on either side of the Caribbean Sea.
Chucky Hansen is known to be a formidable opponent, but she is also known for her hard work ethic in the Senate and for championing the rights of the downtrodden of the territory.
Hansen and top St. Croix attorney Lee Rohn sought justice for the residents of Estate Profit Hills (“Machuchal”) for alleged exposure to toxic “red dust” and a lawsuit against Alcoa Corporation and the St. Croix Renaissance Group on the affected peoples’ behalf continues to this very day.
Believe it or not, although she is considered by some to be “harsh, loud and abrasive” when speaking on the floor of the Legislature, Chucky Hansen has a soft and gentle side. For those of us who have been lucky to get to know her, she will be happy to tell you that her Vietnam war veteran husband Edsel Hansen is the one who actually wears the pants in the family.
The longtime senator’s long-running radio program on Saturdays is listened to religiously on St. Croix every weekend, just as people on the mainland listen to their favorite college football team’s game.
And despite being a local “celebrity” and the most successful politician in U.S. Virgin Islands history, Hansen can be seen out among the ordinary people of St. Croix, doing her own grocery shopping herself at Plaza Extra East in Peter’s Rest, Pueblo Golden Rock or Bi-Rite Supermarket in Estate Richmond.
Hansen is truly a woman of the people and by the people and for the people, and the editorial board of the Virgin Islands Free Press wishes her good luck in the coming election November 3. She is running as an Independent candidate and has been given the number 11 by the Elections System of the Virgin Islands.
As Chucky herself might tell you in her inimitable style on the campaign trail: “Push No. 11, Alicia ‘Chucky’ Hansen!”
Hansen, a former paralegal and social worker on St. Croix, was mentored for the Senate by her idol the legendary former St. Croix Senator Ruby M. Rouss in the 17th Legislature of the U.S. Virgin Islands in 1987. It was Hansen’s first term there, but not her last.
A counter-puncher by nature, no matter how many times Hansen has been elected to the Legislature, she has never once served as that august body’s Senate President.
Hansen was born to Martin Pickering and Medora Paulis Williams, but was reared by Mr. and Mrs. Leon Hansen. She graduated from the Jose C. Barbosa High School, and later attended the InterAmerican University in Puerto Rico. Senator Hansen went on to attend the Virgin Islands Police Academy, as well as the University of the Virgin Islands, through arrangement with the Territorial Court of the Virgin Islands. She received training in criminal law and paralegal studies.
Prior to election of her first term to the 17th Legislature, Hansen worked as a legal researcher and translator for the Attorney General’s Office, and as a counselor at the thenDepartment of Social Welfare. Hansen owned and operated the Strong Foundation Institute, an early childhood program. She was also owner and operator of “Chucky’s Boutique.”
During her term in the 20th Legislature Senator Hansen served as a member of the committees on: Education, Health, and Housing, Parks & Recreation. During the 21st Legislature, Senator Hansen chaired the powerful Finance Committee. She served as ViceChair of the Committee on Housing, Parks & Recreation, and as a member of the Committees on: Rules; Economic Development, Agriculture & Consumer Protection; and Planning & Environmental Protection. Senator Hansen served as Chairman of the Committee on Labor and Veterans Affairs, and member of the Economic Development, Agriculture and Consumer Protection and Planning and Environmental Protection Committees during the 22nd Legislature.
The 1998 election saw Senator Hansen garnering the highest number of votes for the third consecutive term, and fifth time in the last six elections. Her success has distinguished her as one of the most popular politicians historically out of the political district of St. Croix, or even the Virgin Islands. This is Senator Hansen’s seventh term garnering the highest vote any senator has ever gained in the district of St. Croix thus far.