BY DESTINY JOHNSON
Journal Staff Writer

Unofficial results indicate that Progressive Liberal Party candidate Kingsley Smith has won the
by-election for the West Grand Bahama and Bimini seat, previously held by the late Minister of
Social Services, Information and Broadcasting Obie Wilchcombe.
Mr. Smith won with a total of 2,150 votes, which represents 58.25 percent of the votes. FNM
candidate Ricardo Grant received 1,276 votes, Coalition of Independents leader Lincoln Bain
received 307 votes, independent candidate Daquin Swain received 28 votes and independent
candidate Terneille Burrows received four votes.
Following the results, Prime Minister and PLP leader Philip Davis held a press conference at the
PLP headquarters at 8 p.m. on Wednesday.
He thanked the people of West Grand Bahama and Bimini for their vote of confidence.
“We are so very grateful to you for engaging with us, listening to us and continuing to give us
your support. Thank you. Numerous thanks as well to the many members and supporters of the
progressive of the party who worked so hard to secure this victory. This success may not have
come without the early mornings, the long days and the late-night effort you put into the
campaign, and I thank you. We took nothing for granted. We were determined to work as hard as
we always do to secure the best representation for the people. The hard work has paid off. It’s a
good feeling. We wanted to win to honor the memory of Obie. We especially wanted to win
because we wanted a representative who shared our vision for the people of the constituency,”
the prime minister told supporters.
The prime minister also thanked MP elect Kingsley Smith, praising him for a job well done in
sprinting successfully through a campaign that no one expected.
“Being a Member of Parliament is a great privilege and with that comes great responsibility. The
people have placed their trust and confidence in you Kingsley and I have every confidence that
you will deliver for them. So, friends, tonight we celebrate. It’s a victory for Kingsley Smith and
the Progressive Liberal Party. But it’s also a victory for The Bahamas. As you can see from the
many candidates and parties vying in this election, Bahamians have demonstrated once again that
our democracy is in good shape. God has truly blessed our Bahamaland. Now, after the
celebrations tonight, tomorrow we’ll be right up bright and early because it’s time to get back to
work,” he said.
The prime minister went on to say that the campaign gave them a chance to reconnect with the
people of West Grand Bahama and Bimini in a much deeper way.

Prime Minister Davis also addressed the low voter turnout of the election.
Voter turnout has unofficially been recorded at just under 59 percent, down from 68 percent two
years ago.
However, Prime Minister Davis said he is not worried.
“In a democracy, you have the choice to cast a ballot or not cast a ballot. It’s the constituent’s
constituent right to decide whether they can participate or not. We encourage participation, but if
they choose not to, that’s their democratic right. So, turn out really isn’t an issue for me. Issue for
me is that I turn out my voters and I won. We encourage our votes to come out and they voted. It
was their job to get their voters out and it’s our job always to encourage participation. Yet again,
as I said, it is a democratic right for anyone. That’s part of democracy,” he said.
The House of Assembly will resume on November 29 and the new Member of Parliament for
West Grand Bahama and Bimini Kingsley Smith will be sworn in during that time.