PLP’s margin of victory projected to be larger than two years ago
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Unofficial results from Eyewitness News reflect that Kingsley Smith Jr. has successfully retained the West Grand Bahama & Bimini seat for the governing Progressive Liberal Party (PLP).
The seat was made vacant by the sudden passing of former area Member of Parliament Obie Wilchcombe, forcing a Bye-Election that saw five candidates nominate. The PLP’s “One Love” campaign thumped all challengers in a similar fashion to Wilchcombe’s victory in 2017.
When the dust settled after the polls closed at 6:00 pm on November 22, it quickly became apparent that PLP candidate Kingsley Smith Jr would be the victor—early returns projected a lead for the first-time candidate that he never relinquished through the night.
At 9:30 pm, with all polling divisions reporting, Smith Jr unofficially received 2,082 votes, or 58.25% of all votes cast. If the count remains the same, this would be a 48-vote gain from Wilchcombe’s total of 2034 votes in the 2021 general election.
Bishop Ricardo Grant of the Free National Movement (FNM), unofficially received 1,236 votes—or 34.58%—representing a decline of 248 votes from two years ago when Pakesia Parker-Edgecombe was the FNM’s candidate.
Coalition of Independents (COI) Leader Lincoln Bain unofficially garnered 6.41% of all votes cast, or 229 total. The COI candidate in 2021 was Keno Hall, who received 192 votes at the time.
The final two candidates in the race, both independents, received less than 1% of the total vote. Daquan Swain unofficially polled 24 votes, while Terneille Burrows unofficially received 3 votes. 73 votes were cast for Swain when he previously ran for the seat in 2021.
Voter turnout has unofficially been recorded at just under 59%, down from 68% two years ago.
