BY-ELECTION ARCHIVE
Two Senate vacancies decided through runoffs
Liberia held senatorial by-elections in River Gee and Montserrado counties in 2009. Both vacancies followed the deaths of sitting senators, and neither first-round contest produced a majority winner, requiring runoffs.
River Gee County
The election followed the death of Senator Isaac Nyenekarto Johnson of the Liberian Action Party. In the first round, Nathaniel J. Williams of the Liberia Destiny Party led with 2,079 votes (32.23%). Conmany B. Wesseh of the Unity Party received 1,528 (23.69%), independent Jonathan Boy Charles Sogbie 1,348 (20.90%), Hixenbaugh Kear Darbeh of the Liberian Action Party 650 (10.08%), Patrick T. Dexter Johnson of the Congress for Democratic Change 367 (5.69%), Edmund B. Gibson Jr. of the National Patriotic Party 295 (4.57%), and P. Tarpowah Dortu Kear Jr. of the Alliance for Peace and Democracy 183 (2.84%).
The first round recorded 6,450 valid votes and 379 invalid ballots. In the runoff, Nathaniel J. Williams won with 3,498 votes (52.83%) against Wesseh’s 3,123 (47.17%). The runoff recorded 6,621 valid votes and 211 invalid ballots.
Montserrado County — 10 and 24 November
The vacancy arose after the death of Senator Hannah G. Brent of the Congress for Democratic Change on 3 August 2009. Ten candidates contested the 10 November first round. Geraldine Doe-Sheriff of the CDC led with 33,874 votes (35.48%), followed by Clemenceau Blayon Urey of the Unity Party with 28,329 (29.68%) and Wilson Kargeor Tarpeh of the Alliance for Peace and Democracy with 15,555 (16.29%).
Other first-round totals were Alhaji G. V. Kromah, 6,729; A. Darius Dillon Sr., 5,418; Grace Tee McGill Kpaan, 2,224; Jacqueline Maudlyne Capehart, 1,244; Jasper S. Fallah Ndaborlor, 1,143; Daniel G. Johnson, 668; and Nathaniel Semoda Toe Jr., 278.
In the 24 November runoff, Geraldine Doe-Sheriff won with 58,384 votes (56.0%) against Urey’s 45,864 (44.0%). There were 104,248 valid votes and 1,552 invalid ballots, for 105,800 ballots cast.
Administrative context
The Montserrado election was the NEC’s largest operation since the 2005 general election. A United Nations report noted low turnout and first-round administrative weaknesses, while confirming that the CDC retained the vacant Senate seat following the runoff.