Bahamians vote as Davis seeks second term amid US lobbying controversy

Bahamians head to the polls on Tuesday in general elections in which the current prime minister has called the opposition “weak,” a former NBA star has claimed the party in power targeted him, and a lucrative contract with Trump-connected lobbyists has raised the ire of some voters.

There are 41 seats up for grabs in the parliamentary vote, which pits the governing Progressive Liberal Party and its leader, Prime Minister Philip ‘Brave’ Davis, against the main opposition Free National Movement and its leader, Michael Pintard. There is also the Coalition of Independents, COI, a third party led by Lincoln Bain.

Though third parties historically have not done well in The Bahamas or the Caribbean in general, the COI is hoping to change that. The party has fielded candidates in nearly every constituency in hopes of stopping the PLP and Davis, 74, from becoming the first incumbent party to win a second consecutive five-year term in office since the 1997 general elections saw the FNM-led government voted back in.

Also running for a seat in parliament is three-time NBA champion Ricky Fox, a Free National Movement candidate who is vying for a shot to hold elected office for the first time. Fox recently went viral when he was filmed in a scuffle as he was setting up a tent for advanced voting. Former Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis, who was in office in 2019 when Hurricane Dorian devastated the islands and later replaced as FNM leader when he overwhelmingly lost the 2021 general elections to Davis, is also in the race. He’s running as an independent to retain his Killarney seat after failing to get the FNM’s endorsement.

The Bahamas has 209,264 registered voters. Polls open at 8 a..m. and close at 6 p.m. Last week a 12-member team from the Caribbean Community bloc CARICOM arrived in the country to observe the vote. The mission is headed by Herman St. Helen, chief elections officer of the Saint Lucia Electoral Department. The Organization of American States and the Commonwealth of Nations have also deployed elections observers.

The debates going into Tuesday have focused on the high cost of living, energy costs, government accountability and immigration. Both Minnis and the FNM have focused talking points on migration from neighboring Haiti on the campaign trail, with the FNM in recent weeks changing its party slogan to “Save our sovereignty.”

In a final effort to sway voters, the parties have offered sharply contrasting views of the state of the country just off the east coast of Florida. In a lavish rally on Saturday, Davis lambasted the FNM. Pintard, meanwhile, has accused Davis and his party of betraying the public trust, criticized its handling of the economy and said the government is plagued by corruption.

He’s cast the opposition as a cleaner alternative, telling voters as one recent rally, “Our hands will not be in the cookie jar....The bottom line is, we intend to govern with honesty.”

On Saturday Davis told voters that “some feel that their turn should come every five years, no matter how weak they are, no matter that they have no real vision or plan for the country, no matter what they just feel entitled to govern.” In his speech, he promised to use a second turn to expand housing, healthcare and job training.

The Bahamas is the third Caribbean country to head to the polls so far this year, after voters in Barbados and Antigua and Barbuda handed the incumbent parties landslide victories. Like several countries in the region, the Bahamian government has come under scrutiny from the United States over contracts involving Cuban doctors and other medical professionals, and the construction of a hospital with Chinese money. At home, voters have questioned the government’s hiring of Trump allies as lobbyists for tens of thousands of dollars a month while some public servants have struggled to get paid.

The Miami Herald reported earlier this month that Trump ally Roger Stone and MAGA youth influencer Coreco “CJ” Pearson had registered as lobbyists for The Bahamas and were to be paid $100,000 and $20,000 a month, respectively.

Filings under the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act show that the Bahamian government entered into an agreement with DCI Group in March 2026, and will pay the public relations firm $250,000 a month to “strengthen relations” between the United States and The Bahamas. Stone and Pearson both work for DCI Group.

After the initial story broke, the Davis administration defended the arrangement.

“Ensuring that Bahamian interests are represented by advocates positioned to make a difference is an important responsibility of government,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement.

Pintard has criticized the contract, telling voters at an opposition-party rally in Freeport that the government was prepared to spend money to advance its interest, but not theirs. He also noted that islands like Freeport are without fire trucks and ambulances.

“We can spend $250,000 a month seeking to improve a messed up image that we need Jesus Christ to change,” he said.

The opposition party has also claimed that the party in power is seeking a legal pathway to allow people not listed on the voter registry to cast ballots by permitting individuals with voter cards, but whose names do not appear on the register, to vote on Tuesday.

The Parliamentary Registration Department on Friday “categorically” rejected what it called “inaccurate and misleading” claims: “It is categorically false, as stated that thousands of persons hold voter’s cards without appearing on the register.”