tallpines

Incumbent Michael Darville is attempting to hold the seat for the Progressive Liberal Party against a renewed challenge from the Free National Movement.

Darville will face FNM candidate Serfent Rolle, while Trevor Greene enters the race under the Coalition of Independents banner.

In 2021, Darville secured the seat convincingly with 2,243 votes, defeating FNM candidate Donald Saunders, who received 1,107 votes. The COI candidate at the time earned 378 votes, highlighting the difficulty third-parties face in breaking through in the two-party political system.

But Tall Pines also has a history of shifting sides.

In 2012, the constituency was represented by Leslie Miller under the PLP. By 2017, the seat flipped to the FNM with the late Donald Saunders. Four years later, Darville reclaimed it for the PLP which shows that the area is not a safe seat for either major party, but responds to the national mood and turnout at the polls.

That reality could make 2026 more competitive than the 2021 election.

As an incumbent, Darville benefits from familiarity and the advantages associated with the governing party. However, incumbents also carry the burden of defending the government’s overall record at a time when healthcare and voter frustration are the national discourse.

For Rolle, the challenge will be turning dissatisfaction with Darville into votes and rebuilding the FNM’s footing in the constituency.

Meanwhile, Greene faces the obstacles typical of third-party candidates like limited machinery and a system dominated by the two major parties.

Before Bahamians head to the polls, Leader of the Coalition of Independents, Lincoln Bain sought to refute claims that his party plagiarized architectural drawings.

Bain took to social media to clarify plagiarism claims after drawings of a hospital and airport purportedly designed by a candidate of COI made the rounds on Facebook that appeared in Google searches.

Bain said on Wednesday night, the drawings were “only templates” used by his party to present the concept to the public. He accused others of being “mischievous” in an attempt to discredit the party.

The party’s Tall Pines candidate Kendall Richardson, an architect and the purported designer of the drawings agreed with Bain, stating that he purchased the architectural software and was given rights to the drawings that he “reconstruct[ed]” and “made his own.”

In earlier social media posts, Bain boasted of his party’s plan for the “new Bahamas” showing the drawings while claiming they were designed by Richardson.

“The plans are already drawn…He has already designed the hospital. It’s called Health city…There’s going to be spas, things to lower your stress. It’s going to be traditional medicine mixed with alternative medicine.

“We meticulously went through every single room of this hospital…Your candidate was in every single evening planning the new Bahamas…We went through every single part of this, what’s going to happen, where it’s going to happen. This was drawn by our visionary Kendall Richardson.”

Richardson deleted the drawings from his Facebook page after the accusations of plagiarism were levied against him.

Bain and his party have garnered hundreds of followers on social media since promising that his party, if selected by the people, will give one acre of land, $100,000 dollars, and a stimulus package of $2000 to each Bahamian.

It remains to be seen if he can turn followers into voters, as third parties in the country have never been successful at the polls.