Barton v Dawson: The Clarendon by-election that could decide parish control
Published:Wednesday | November 6, 2024 | 4:42 PM
The Jamaica Labour Party's (JLP) Suzette Barton and Delroy Dawson of the Opposition People's National Party (PNP) will face off in a by-election for the Aenon Town Division that could decide control of the Clarendon Municipal Corporation.
The two, both teachers, were officially nominated on Wednesday, for the election to be held on November 22.
The JLP currently holds 11 divisions in Clarendon to the PNP's 10. A tie would allow the party with the popular vote to choose the mayor and chairman.
The PNP won the popular vote (28,591 votes) to the JLP (28,534 votes) in February's parish elections.
The election was called following the death Marjorie McLeod-McFarlane on September 1. In a shock result, McLeod-McFarlane, who represented the JLP, won the division in February, ending decades of PNP control. Her death reduced the JLP's count to 11 divisions.
In February's polls, McLeod-McFarlane got 1,403 votes to Dawson's 1,311.
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