Has the CDC Consistently Won Presidential Elections in Grand Gedeh County Since 2005?

In Summary:

• Former Montserrado County District #8 Representative Moses Acarous Gray claimed that the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) has consistently won presidential elections in Grand Gedeh County throughout the more than eighteen years Senator Zoe Emmanuel Pennue has served the county.

• We have verified this claim by reviewing the presidential election results from 2005 to 2023, published by the National Elections Commission

• A review of official presidential election results published by the National Elections Commission (NEC) shows that while the CDC won Grand Gedeh County in three of the four elections during this period, it lost the county to the Unity Party (UP) in 2011.

On January 13, Acarous Gray, former District #8 Representative, claimed on the OK afternoon conversation that the Congress for Democratic Change has consistently won presidential elections in Grand Gedeh County throughout the more than eighteen years Senator Zoe Pennue has served the county.

Gray made the claim when he responded to a question regarding Grand Gedeh County Senator Zoe Pennue’s support for the ruling Unity Party. In his remarks, Gray described Senator Pennue as an empty vessel, arguing that the CDC has historically won elections in Grand Gedeh regardless of the senator’s support.

Senator Zoe Pennue was first elected to national office in 2005, when he won a seat in the House of Representatives as an independent candidate representing Grand Gedeh County Electoral District #2.

The Claim

Said Gray: “Zoe is an empty vessel when it comes to Grand Gedeh voting for the presidency of the Republic of Liberia. He has served for more than eighteen years. All of those years, CDC consistently won Grand Gedeh.”

Rating Justification

To verify this claim, we reviewed presidential election results from 2005 to 2023 published by the National Elections Commission.

NEC records show that in the 2005 presidential election, CDC candidate George Weah received 21,670 votes in Grand Gedeh County, while Unity Party candidate Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf secured 800 votes.

In the 2011 presidential election, the trend changed. CDC candidate Winston Tubman obtained 2,692 votes, while President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of the Unity Party won with 13,795 votes in the county.

The CDC regained dominance in the 2017 election, earning 26,130 votes compared to the Unity Party’s 3,402 votes.

In the 2023 presidential election, the CDC again led in Grand Gedeh County with 34,751 votes, while the Unity Party received 4,689 votes.

Conclusion

Based on a review of NEC’s official data, we conclude that Gray’s claim that the CDC has consistently won the presidency in Grand Gedeh County since 2005 is incorrect.

Although the CDC won presidential elections in Grand Gedeh County in 2005, 2017, and 2023, it lost the county to the Unity Party in the 2011 election.