HAVING seen her victory margin reduced to a single vote in 2016, Rosealie Hamilton is taking no chances as she moves to solidify her hold on the Rae Town Division in the Kingston Central constituency in the February 26, 2024 Local Government Elections.

Hamilton first won the division in 2003 before losing it in 2012 and reclaiming it in 2016. She told the Jamaica Observer that it should be easier this time around.

“It is the most confident I have been going into an election. We had a victory margin over the PNP in the 2020 General Election of 1,000-odd [1,081] votes and them can’t move that,” said Hamilton after she was nominated at Alpha Primary School on Thursday.

With hundreds of green-clad supporters ushering her to the nomination centre, the veteran councillor told the Observer that claims by the People’s National Party (PNP) that its candidate, Shawn “Ribba” McGregor, is going to force her into political retirement are just hope.

“And mi feel good fi dem that dem have hope, but dem hope is going to stop at Hope Gardens. The PNP can’t win and the PNP knew they couldn’t win [in 2016] and the PNP had to [indulge in intimidation] to come that close,” said Hamilton as she charged that the fatal shooting of one of her supporters on election day in 2016 caused others to stay home and not vote.

According to Hamilton, if there is no violence in the lead-up to, and on election day itself, she will win by a massive margin.

“Dem already start the little things, so me a call on the police to pay special attention to the Rae Town Division because it is a deciding seat, and because of that the PNP always target the Rae Town Division. Dem don’t have the numbers to win and dem know that,” declared Hamilton.

But the soft-spoken McGregor, who polled 1,883 votes in 2016, is not daunted by the task facing him, having come that close to victory in his first attempt at representational politics and having seen the PNP’s Ann Marie Morrison defeat Hamilton in 2012.

McGregor told the Observer that he has learnt his lessons from the 2016 nail-biting defeat.

“That was seven years ago; I was seven years younger, now I am seven years wiser,” said McGregor.

“There are a lot of lessons that we learnt and we made a lot of mistakes. I thank the people who came out to vote for me seven years ago and they are energetic as they can be now, plus tax,” declared McGregor who was escorted by hundreds of supporters and a marching band to the nomination centre.