Jamaica Labour Party candidate Gregory Mair (second left), celebrates his victory in the North East St Catherine by-election with supporters, including Othneil Lawrence, member of parliament for North West St Ann, and Central St Catherine member of parliament Olivia Grange (centre), in Riversdale yesterday. - photos by Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer

The Jamaica Labour Party's (JLP) Gregory Mair triumphed by more than 2,600 votes in a subdued by-election in North East St Catherine yesterday, mirroring the widened margin of victory for the governing party at a similar poll in March.

The by-election became necessary when the Supreme Court declared the seat vacant after Mair admitted he had Venezuelan citizenship at the time of his nomination for the 2007 general election. At that election, he won the seat by 959 votes against the People's National Party's (PNP) Phyllis Mitchell.

The court ruled that a by-election should be held, leading to Mair's trouncing of PNP candidate Granville Valentine yesterday. In victory, the JLP candidate increased his margin to 2,657 votes, polling 6,329 against Valentine's 3,672 votes. The turnout was a modest 52 per cent of the close to 19,000 registered voters.

Just beginning

"The work of the party is just beginning and it shows that representation of the people is alive and well," Mair told The Gleaner following his victory. "I thank the organising committee and the supporters of the party who voted and I will represent them to the best of my abilities."

Yesterday's by-election was only the second in a string of by-elections expected after the PNP's filing of constitutional claims against JLP members of parliament who it says are not eligible to sit in Parliament because they have sworn allegiance to a foreign power.

In March, the JLP's Daryl Vaz also increased his margin of victory over his PNP rival in the first of the duels. That contest occurred after the Court of Appeal upheld the Chief Justice's ruling in the case brought against Vaz by the PNP's contender for West Portland in the 2007 general election, Abe Dabdoub.

The Chief Justice had ruled Vaz's election to the seat was null and void because he had sworn allegiance to a foreign power by renewing his United States passport. She ruled that a by-election should be held. The same ruling was upheld in the case of Mitchell vs Mair.

It is widely expected that the Chief Justice's ruling will be upheld in two other similar cases before the courts, against the JLP's Michael Stern in North West Clarendon and Shahine Robinson in North East St Ann. The PNP is seeking to unseat both parliamentarians on the basis that they allegedly have swore allegiance to another state power.

The PNP, including its candidate Valentine, was low key throughout the day.

Conceding yesterday's results, he said he lost votes because he was not well-known throughout the constituency.

"A lot of people never wanted to vote because they did not see me face to face," he said.

"Part of the problem with that is that you have one of the biggest electorates in Jamaica. There is absolutely no way, over two to three weeks you can walk to meet all those persons."