Cayo, Benque, Punta Gorda and San Pedro also go red
The U.D.P.’s victory spread to the twin towns of San Ignacio and Santa Elena that were painted red. The U.D.P.’s John August returns as Mayor with two thousand and six votes. That figure also represents the lowest number of votes by a U.D.P. candidate. August received five hundred and eighty-six less votes than he did in 2006. The U.D.P. received a total of twenty-four thousand and eighty-seven votes. That is seventeen thousand five hundred and eighty-six more votes than the P.U.P.’s six thousand five hundred and one votes. P.U.P. mayoral candidate Jose Mendoza received seven hundred and twenty-five which also represents the lowest amount of votes for the party. The highest amount of votes received by the P.U.P. is one thousand and eighteen by Joe Marr senior. Independent candidate Luis Ayala received one hundred and five votes, that’s twenty-two more votes than he received in 2006. Alfonso “Poncho” Cruz received more than nine hundred votes.
The U.D.P.’s landslide victory continued to the western border town of Benque Viejo. The official statistics show that the amount of ballots cast was close to the 2006 figures. There were three thousand eight hundred and fifty-five registered voters and sixty-six point four percent of voters turned out on election day. Two thousand five hundred and fifty-six ballots were cast, that’s only four less ballots less than the two thousand five hundred and sixty votes cast in 2006. But that is the end of any similarity to 2006. While one P.U.P. candidate won a council seat in 2006, all the council seats in Benque were won by United Democratic Party Candidates, headed by Mayor Nicholasito Ruiz. In 2006 all P.U.P. candidates received over a thousand votes each, but this time around the most votes by a P.U.P. candidate was five hundred eighty-five votes which were received by Francisco Manuel Portillo. The smallest amount of votes received by a U.D.P. candidate was one thousand six hundred and eighty-seven by Ana Castellanos. The most votes by a U.D.P. candidate was one thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight by Salvador Iglesias. The newly formed Benque Association, led by Humberto Moh never quite made it into the race. The candidate with the most votes, Eric Bill Alta received only sixty-six votes.
And finally in the south, there was a packed ballot with two third parties fielding slates and one independent candidate running for councillor. In the end, the split council was mended as all the players on the red team topped the polls, beating out the competition… although there were a couple close calls. Councillor turned mayoral candidate Floyd Lino received nine hundred and seventeen votes to take the seat from incumbent Carlos “Obeah” Galvez. The highest tally went to Fern Gutierrez, who received one thousand and three votes. Councillor Leroy Supaul retained his seat with a cozy nine hundred and thirty-three votes as did Anthony Lambey. Things were too close for comfort for Sylvestre Teul as two P.U.P. candidates: Sheldon Ramirez and Hilton Garbutt lost by sixteen and eighteen votes respectively. Teul received seven hundred and fifty-nine votes, while Ramirez got seven hundred and forty-three and Garbutt seven hundred and forty-one. P.U.P. incumbent Obeah Galvez only managed to get six hundred and fifty-one votes, two hundred and sixty-six short of Lino. As for the third parties, the People’s National Party candidates received over a hundred votes. The highest was councillor candidate Anthony Gabriel, who garnered a hundred and ninety-four. Congress for the People fielded a mayor and two candidates, none of whom got over forty votes. Independent councillor Hervan Morgan managed over two hundred and twenty-two votes.
Like Moya, incumbent U.D.P. Mayor for San Pedro, Elsa Paz, had her own share of controversies leading up to March fourth. But in the end, it didn’t hurt as Paz managed to increase the number of votes she received by almost two hundred. Her final tally was one thousand nine hundred and twenty-one votes. Councillor Joseph Elijio accumulated only nine more than the mayor with one thousand nine hundred and thirty, while Severo Guerrero tallied in at nine thousand and ten votes. All the other candidates racked in over eighteen hundred vote each. The P.U.P.s led by Baldemar Graniel never did manage to get closer than seven hundred and fifty-seven to the nearest U.D.P. candidate. The three who did manage to rake in over a thousand are Marina Graniel, Andre Perez, and Vaian Perez.
