Dangriga (Belize House constituency)

Dangriga
Constituency for the Belize House of Representatives
District	Stann Creek
Electorate	6,275 (2015)
Major settlements	Dangriga
Current constituency
Created	1961 as Stann Creek Town, renamed 1979
Party	United Democratic Party
Area Representative	Frank Mena

Dangriga is an electoral constituency in the Stann Creek District represented in the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belize since 2015 by Frank "Papa" Mena of the United Democratic Party.

Profile

The Dangriga constituency was created as Stann Creek Town for the 1961 general election as part of a major nationwide redistricting. The constituency assumed its current name as of the 1979 general election. It includes the town of Dangriga as well as the nearby Sarawee and Hope Creek areas. It is bordered by the Stann Creek West constituency and the Caribbean Sea.^[1]

July 2015 by-election

In June 2015 Area Rep. Ivan Ramos resigned after controversially failing to retain his standard bearer status with the People's United Party. A by-election to determine Ramos' successor was held 8 July 2015.^[2] Nominations were formally made on 22 June. Former Dangriga Mayor Frank "Papa" Mena was the UDP nominee, while retired educator Anthony Sabal stood as the PUP candidate after initial reports the PUP might not contest the by-election at all.^[3][4] Llewellyn Lucas from the Belize Green Independent Party was also nominated, becoming that party's first official candidate in any election since it was founded in 2012.^[5] A fourth candidate endorsed by both of Belize's other active minor parties, the People's National Party and Vision Inspired by the People, was disqualified due to holding dual citizenship. Belizean candidates for public office may not hold citizenship in any other country.^[6]

The by-election was won by Mena with 57.89 percent of the vote, giving the UDP its third consecutive by-election win dating to 2003. ^[7]

Area Representatives

Election		Area Representative[8]	Party
	1961	Allan Arthurs	PUP
	1974	Paul Guerrero	UDP
	1979	Theodore Aranda	UDP
	1983		CDP
	1984	Simeon Sampson	PUP
	1989	Theodore Aranda	PUP
	1993	Russell Garcia	UDP
	1998	Theodore Aranda	PUP
	2003	Sylvia Flores	PUP
	2008	Arthur Roches	UDP
	2012	Ivan Ramos	PUP
	2015 by-election	Frank Mena	UDP

Elections

Election	Political result		Candidate		Party	Votes	%	±%
July 2015 by-election [7] Electorate: 6,275 Turnout: 3,738 (59.57%) −5.27		UDP gain from PUP Majority: 638 (17.07%) +8.26		Frank Mena	UDP	2,164	57.89	+13.51
				Anthony Sabal	PUP	1,526	40.82	−12.37
				Llewellyn Lucas	BGIP	14	0.37	-
2012 general election [9] Electorate: 5,904 Turnout: 3,828 (64.84%) −4.28		PUP gain from UDP Majority: 337 (8.81%) −6.49		Ivan Ramos	PUP	2,036	53.19	+11.89
				Arthur Roches	UDP	1,699	44.38	−12.22
				Mateo Tomas Polanco	PNP	37	0.97	-
2008 general election [10] Electorate: 5,363 Turnout: 3,707 (69.12%) +0.62		UDP gain from PUP Majority: 567 (15.3%) +7.48		Arthur Roches	UDP	2,098	56.6	+12.02
				Cassian Nunez	PUP	1,531	41.3	−11.1
				Denton Castillo	NRP	31	0.84	-
				Quentin Mejia	VIP	20	0.54	-
2003 general election [11] Electorate: 4,254 Turnout: 2,914 (68.5%) −15.57		PUP hold Majority: 228 (7.82%) −7.36		Sylvia Flores	PUP	1,527	52.4	−4.41
				Russell Garcia	UDP	1,299	44.58	+2.95
				Ian Caliz	Independent	44	1.51	-
1998 general election [12] Electorate: 3,346 Turnout: 2,813 (84.07%) +20.04		PUP gain from UDP Majority: 427 (15.18%) +2.38		Theodore Aranda	PUP	1,598	56.81	+13.21
				Russell Garcia	UDP	1,171	41.63	−14.77
				Cypriano Luke Palacio	PDP	19	0.67	-
1993 general election [13][14] Electorate: 4,123 Turnout: 2,640 (64.03%) −2.81		UDP gain from PUP Majority: 338 (12.8%) +5.3		Russell Garcia	UDP	1,489	56.4	+11.0
				Theodore Aranda	PUP	1,151	43.6	−9.3
1989 general election [15][16] Electorate: 3,486 Turnout: 2,330 (66.84%) −0.05		PUP hold Majority: 176 (7.5%) −8.3		Theodore Aranda	PUP	1,233	52.9	+9.8
				Randolph Enriquez	UDP	1,057	45.4	+18.1
1984 general election [17][18] Electorate: 2,368 Turnout: 1,584 (66.89%) −18.36		PUP gain from CDP Majority: 250 (15.8%) +7.4		Simeon Sampson	PUP	682	43.1	−2.1
				Henry Anderson	UDP	432	27.3	−26.3
				Theodore Aranda	CDP	385	24.3	-
				Allan Arthurs	Independent	77	4.9	-
1979 general election [19] Electorate: 2,319 Turnout: 1,977 (85.25%) +18.45		UDP hold Majority: 8.4% (−3.7)		Theodore Aranda	UDP		53.6	−1.2
				Gadsby Ramos	PUP		45.2	+2.5
1974 general election [20] Electorate: 2,187 Turnout: 1,461 (66.8%) −11.13		UDP gain from PUP Majority: 12.1% (+1.5)		Paul Guerrero	UDP		54.8	-
				Allan Arthurs	PUP		42.7	−11.6
1969 general election [21] Electorate: 2,093 Turnout: 1,631 (77.93%) +3.59		PUP hold Majority: 10.6% (+8.9)		Allan Arthurs	PUP		54.3	+4.3
				Rodwell Leslie	NIP		43.7	−4.6
1965 general election [22] Electorate: 2,666 Turnout: 1,982 (74.34%) −7.87		PUP hold Majority: 1.7% (−6.4)		Allan Arthurs	PUP		50.0	−2.3
				Albert Arzu	NIP		48.3	+4.1
1961 general election [23] Electorate: 1,816 Turnout: 1,493 (82.21%) n/a		PUP win Majority: 8.1% (n/a)		Allan Arthurs	PUP		52.3	-
				Paul Guerrero	NIP		44.2	-

References

1. Belize election maps, Psephos - Adam Carr's Election Archive. (accessed 20 November 2014)
2. "Bye-Election In July! PUP Hon. Ivan Ramos Steps Down As Representative", Tropical Vision Limited, 8 June 2015. (accessed 18 June 2015)
3. "PUP Still 'Assessing' While Bye-election Date Drawing Nigh", Tropical Vision Limited, 12 June 2015. (accessed 18 June 2015)
4. Trujillo, Renee. "Political Momentum Picks Up in Dangriga", LOVE FM, 17 June 2015 (accessed 18 June 2015)
5. "Nomination Day for Bi Election in Dangriga", PlusTV Belize, 23 June 2015. (accessed 23 June 2015)
6. Clarke, Kareem. "Race for Dangriga seat in high gear", Amandala, 23 June 2015 (accessed 23 June 2015)
7. Humes, Aaron "Frank 'Papa' Mena is the new Dangriga area representative ", Breaking Belize News, 8 July 2015. (accessed 8 July 2015)
8. Elections Results, Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 20 November 2014)
9. GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS 2012, Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 19 November 2014)
10. 2008 General Elections Final Results , Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 19 November 2014)
11. 2003 General Elections final results, Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 19 November 2014)
12. General Elections 1998, Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 19 November 2014)
13. General Elections 1993, Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 19 November 2014)
14. 1993 Parliamentary Elections, Political Database of the Americas. (accessed 22 November 2014)
15. General Elections 1989, Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 19 November 2014)
16. 1989 Parliamentary Elections, Political Database of the Americas. (accessed 22 November 2014)
17. General Elections 1984, Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 19 November 2014)
18. 1984 Parliamentary Elections, Political Database of the Americas. (accessed 22 November 2014)
19. General Elections 1979, Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 19 November 2014)
20. General Elections 1974, Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 19 November 2014)
21. General Elections 1969, Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 19 November 2014)
22. General Elections 1965, Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 19 November 2014)
23. General Elections 1961, Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 19 November 2014)