The Tribune

FAMILY Island candidates in Eleuthera and Long Island are already projecting big wins in the May 7 general election.

Damien Gomez, Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) candidate in Central and South Eleuthera, said his win is 'guaranteed' – the only question is what margin his opponents will be defeated by.

So far, he said, there have been “no issues” at the polls.

Florence Sands, an Eleuthera native, said: “I went out and voted, and it looks pretty good for the Free National Movement (FNM) as well, so it could go either way.”

A demoralised William Hunt, Democratic National Alliance candidate in Central and South Eleuthera, said the day is not going well for him.

Sounding very down and out, Mr Hunt claimed the PLP and FNM are bringing in many handicapped supporters – causing him to wonder if everyone in South Eleuthera is handicapped.

Despite the disappointing signs, Mr Hunt said he is still feeling good, and his party is expected to have a protest in the constituency later today.

Up in North Eleuthera, PLP candidate Clay Sweeting said no altercations or other incidents have been reported, and he too predicted a PLP victory.

However, FNM candidate Theo Neilly said Eleutherans are making a strong showing in their red, even the voters who they had “question marks next to”.

Mr Neilly said he did not want to be over confident, but he is “fairly sure” the people of North Eleuthera will elect him as their next representative.

Loretta Butler-Turner in Long Island said her grandmother’s island of birth will deliver a sure win tonight when the polls are counted.

Long Island resident Fredrika Cartwright said she could not confirm or deny Ms Butler-Turner’s comments, because she has never met her personally before.

“I heard about her before and I have seen her, but she never came by my house to say anything,” said Ms Cartwright, who voted this morning.

PLP candidate Alex Storr said he is getting a great response from voters. He said even voters dressed in other party colours have come up to him and said they voted for him. He said voters only had on FNM and DNA colours to hoodwink family members who are diehard supporters of the other parties.