SINCE 1944, electors of St Catherine North Eastern have voted for a Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) representative 11 times and a People’s National Party (PNP) candidate four in a total of 15 general elections.

A single by-election in 2009 also went in favour of the JLP after a high court disqualified Gregory Mair for holding both Venezuelan and Jamaican citizenship at the time of his nomination for the September 2007 general election.

Mair ultimately defeated the PNP’s Granville Valentine, a political newcomer then, to retain the seat for the JLP.

But the party’s fortunes in the largely farming constituency began long before that contest.

EK Powell lay claim to the reins of the constituency in 1976, trouncing the PNP’s Lloyd Hay after polling 6,352 votes to his 3,930.

In 1980, Powell thrashed the PNP’s Dorrett Aarons when he tallied 7,945 votes to Aarons’ 2,193.

By 1983, he was elected unopposed by acclamation in a general election that was boycotted by the PNP to protest the refusal of the ruling JLP to update the voters’ list amid allegations of voter fraud.

The JLP continued its winning ways in 1989, this time with Anthony Johnson, who polled 5,740 votes to defeat the PNP’s Phyllis Mitchell, who received 4,604.

The roles were, however, reversed in 1993 when Mitchell narrowly defeated Johnson by 160 votes, polling 3,983 to his 3,823.

Mitchell again tasted victory at the polls in 1997, winning the contest versus the JLP’s Abraham Dabdoub by 37 votes after securing 4,750 votes to his 4,713.

However, she lost the seat in 2001 after a court challenge by Dabdoub.

Dabdoub defeated her in parliamentary polls the following year, in 2002, when he secured 5,294 votes to her 4,614.

Five years later in 2007, Mitchell lost to the JLP’s Mair by 959 votes. Mair garnered 6,064 votes while Mitchell pulled 5,105.

In 2011, Mair defeated Dabdoub, who switched political allegiance to the PNP, by getting ahead with 5,786 votes to Dabdoub’s 5,168.

Mair walked away from representational politics ahead of the 2016 general election, clearing the way for Leslie Campbell, who previously lost to the PNP’s Natalie Neita in St Catherine North Central.

Campbell won the polls in 2016, defeating Mitchell, who had made a return to representational politics at 70 years old. Campbell received 5,885 votes to her 5,763.

Voting pattern:

1989:

JLP – Anthony Johnson 5,740

PNP – Phyllis Mitchell 4,604

Eligible voters: 14,521

Total votes: 10, 491

Voter turnout: 72 per cent

Rejected ballots: 147

1993:

PNP – Phyllis Mitchell 3,983

JLP – Anthony Johnson 3,823

Eligible voters: 13,188

Total votes: 7,806

Voter turnout: 59 per cent

Rejected ballots: 35

1997:

PNP – Phyllis Mitchell 4,750

JLP – Abraham Dabdoub 4,713

Eligible voters: 14,134

Total votes: 9,672

Voter turnout: 69 per cent

Rejected ballots: 92

2002:

JLP – Abraham Dabdoub 5, 294

PNP – Phyllis Mitchell 4, 614

Eligible voters: 15,600

Total votes: 9,970

Voter turnout: 63.9 per cent

Rejected ballots: 62

2007:

JLP – Gregory Mair 6,064

PNP – Phyllis Mitchell 5,105

Eligible voters: 18,289

Total votes: 11,221

Voter turnout: 61 per cent

Rejected ballots: 52

2011:

JLP – Gregory Mair 5,786

PNP – Abraham Dabdoub 5,168

Eligible voters: 21,961

Total votes: 10,996

Voter turnout: 50 per cent

Rejected ballots: 42

2016:

JLP – Leslie Campbell 5,885

PNP – Phyllis Mitchell 5,763

Eligible voters: 22,915

Total votes: 11,753

Voter turnout: 51 per cent

Rejected ballots: 105