Sen. Nereida “Nellie” O’Reilly glided into her second legislative term Tuesday garnering 8,321 votes, or 9.78 percent of the votes, making her top St. Croix vote-winner, with fellow independent Alicia “Chucky” Hansen following just a few votes behind in second place with 8,301 votes, for 9.77 percent of the vote. Hansen is returning to the Senate after several terms out of office. That doubles the number of women from St. Croix, and with Democrat Janette Millin-Young winning a seat on St. Thomas, triples the V.I. Legislature’s contingent of women from one to three.
Two first-term Democratic incumbents did not make the top seven and were not reelected: Sens. Wayne James and Michael Thurland. But otherwise, it was a good day for incumbents and for returning former senators.
ICM Party Sen. Terrence “Positive” Nelson, far and away the top St. Croix vote winner in 2008, came in a respectable third, with 9.33 percent or 7,931 votes. Fourth, fifth and sixth place went to incumbents: Democratic Sens. Sammuel Sanes, Neville James and ICM Sen. Usie Richards.
In seventh place, rounding out Tuesday’s unofficial winners was former Sen. Ronald Russell, another Democrat, running to take back the seat he lost two years ago.
The tallies thus far are unofficial. According to Supervisor of Elections John Abramson, there are 590 walk-in ballots and 252 mail-in ballots to be counted still on St. Croix over the next few days. With St. Croix’s seven seats going to the top seven vote-winners, the distance between the seventh- and eighth-place finishers determines how likely an upset is. Russell received 5,152 votes Tuesday, for 6.06 percent of the vote, and Diane Capehart came in 663 short of that, with 4,489 votes. Judi Fricks came in ninth place with just 10 fewer votes than Capehart. While statistically improbable, it is still mathematically possible for either Capehart or Fricks to supplant Russell as the seventh St. Croix senator, but nearly every uncounted vote would have to swing toward either Capehart or Fricks, with almost none going to the other or to Russell.
Multi-term Sen. Neville James, who was on hand at the V.I. Elections Office on St. Croix as the results came in, said the incoming group of St. Croix senators should work well together in part because they have all held the office before. Getting the government’s fiscal house in order will probably be a high priority for the 29th Legislature, James said.
“We have been borrowing to make ends meet for two years now,” James said. “I supported the first round, but not the second, because I’m growing concerned about how long we can sustain ourselves by piling on more debt.”
The Legislature needs to play more of a role in the territory’s policy making, he said. “We have a role to play,” he said. “We are a coequal branch of the government and people need to realize it.”
With three of seven seats in play this year on the St. Croix Board of Elections, Adelbert Bryan topped to roster, with 5,860 votes, followed by incumbents Raymond Williams with 5,045 and Rupert Ross Jr. with 5,268.
Unofficial St. Croix Senate Race Results:
— 1st: Nereida “Nellie” O’Reilly – 8,321
— 2nd: Alicia “Chucky” Hansen – 8,306
— 3rd: Terrence “Positive” Nelson – 7,931
— 4th: Sammuel Sanes – 7,318
— 5th: Neville James – 6,809
— 6th: Usie Richards – 5,235
— 7th: Ronald Russell – 5,152
— (8th: Diane Capehart – 4,489)
