Newfoundland and Labrador general election, 2007

Newfoundland and Labrador general election, 2007

October 9, 2007

48 seats in the 46th General Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador 25 seats needed for a majority   First party Second party Third party   LIB Leader Danny Williams Gerry Reid Lorraine Michael Party Progressive Conservative Liberal New Democratic Leader since 2001 2006 2006 Leader's seat Humber West The Isles of Notre Dame (lost re-election) Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi Last election 34 seats, 58.71% 12 seats, 33.05% 2 seats, 6.86% Seats won 44 3 1 Seat change 10 9 1 Popular vote 155,943 48,598 19,028 Percentage 69.59% 21.69% 8.49% Swing 10.88pp 11.36pp 1.63pp

Map of the province showing the ridings and which party they supported and by how much

Premier before election Danny Williams Progressive Conservative Premier-designate Danny Williams Progressive Conservative

The 47th Newfoundland and Labrador general election was held on October 9, 2007 to elect members of the 46th General Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador, the 18th general election for the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.

Campaign

The election was called soon after Premier Danny Williams announced the popular Hebron Oil Field deal, and it was widely considered a foregone conclusion that Williams' Progressive Conservatives would be reelected. Polls during the campaign showed the Conservatives reaching up to 73 per cent of voter support, leading some commentators to speculate that the party could in fact win every seat in the House of Assembly — a feat accomplished only twice before in Canadian history, in Prince Edward Island in the 1935 election and in New Brunswick in the 1987 election.

On election day, the Progressive Conservatives did win nine more seats than they held at the dissolution of the previous legislature, and won just under 70 per cent of the popular vote, the highest popular vote share ever attained by a party in the province. However, they did not sweep all 48 seats in the legislature though their support was higher than the 1935 PEI election and the 1987 New Brunswick election. Three Liberal incumbents, as well as New Democratic Party leader Lorraine Michael, successfully held their seats. Notably, however, Liberal leader Gerry Reid was not reelected in his own riding.

Grand Falls-Windsor—Buchans and Bonavista South

On October 1, 2007, Gerry Tobin, Liberal candidate in the riding of Grand Falls-Windsor—Buchans, was found dead in his home.^[1] As a result, the chief electoral officer postponed the election in that riding until November 6, 2007.^[2] The Progressive Conservatives won the special election, bringing their total number of seats in the legislature to 44.

Subsequently, Clayton Hobbs, Liberal candidate in the riding of Bonavista South, dropped out of the race, citing health reasons;^[3] consequently, incumbent Progressive Conservative MHA Roger Fitzgerald was declared re-elected.

Results

Party		Seats	Second	Third	Fourth
	Progressive Conservative	44	4	0	0
	Liberal	3	34	9	0
	New Democratic	1	9	26	0
	Labrador Party	0	0	1	0

Riding-by-riding results

Results by party

 Summary of the Legislative Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador election results

Party		Party leader	Candidates	Seats				Popular vote
				2003	Dissol.	2007	Change	#	%	Change
	Progressive Conservative	Danny Williams	*48	34	34	44	+10	155,943	69.59%	+10.88%
	Liberal	Gerry Reid	*46	12	11	3	-9	48,598	21.69%	-11.36%
	New Democratic	Lorraine Michael	36	2	1	1	-1	19,028	8.49%	+1.63%
	Independent and no affiliation		3	-	-	-	-	446	0.20%	-%
	Labrador	Ron Barron	1	*	-	-	-	68	0.03%	-%
	Vacant				2
Total			132	48	48	48	-	224,083	100.00%

Results by region

Party Name			St. John's	St. John's Suburbs	Avalon/Burin	Central	Western/ Southern	Labrador	Total
Parties winning seats in the legislature:
	Progressive Conservative	Seats:	6	7	8	11	9	3	44
		Popular Vote:	69.38%	80.71%	69.50%	70.89%	64.81%	48.53%	69.59%
	Liberal	Seats:	-	-	1	-	1	1	3
		Popular Vote:	10.50%	11.42%	22.46%	23.12%	33.09%	34.78%	21.69%
	New Democratic	Seats:	1	-	-	-	-	-	1
		Popular Vote:	19.10%	7.79%	8.04%	5.85%	2.10%	16.14%	8.49%
Parties that won no seats in the legislature
	Independent	Popular Vote:	1.02%	0.08%	-	0.14%	-	-	0.20%
	Labrador Party	Popular Vote:	-	-	-	-	-	0.55%	0.03%
Total seats:			7	7	9	11	10	4	48

Results by riding

• Bold denotes a Cabinet minister or party leader.
• † denotes a retiring MHA.

St. John's

Electoral District	Candidates									Incumbent
		PC		Liberal		NDP		Other
Kilbride		John Dinn 4,443		Roger Linehan 364		Michelle Broderick 421		Paul Perrier (Ind.) 31		John Dinn
Signal Hill—Quidi Vidi		Maria Afonso 2,135		Maura Beam 158		Lorraine Michael 3,062				Lorraine Michael
St. John's Centre		Shawn Skinner 3,332		Lori Ann Campbell-Martino 374		Jane Robinson 650				Shawn Skinner
St. John's East		Ed Buckingham 3,649		Peter Adams 692		Gemma Schlamp-Hickey 864				John Ottenheimer †
St. John's North		Bob Ridgley 3,488		Simon Lono 561		Matt Power 449				Bob Ridgley
St. John's South		Tom Osborne 3,887		Rex Gibbons 425		Clyde Bridger 571				Tom Osborne
St. John's West		Sheila Osborne 3,623		George Joyce 1,018		Joan Scott 344				Sheila Osborne
Virginia Waters		Kathy Dunderdale 4,043		Drew Brown 429		Dave Sullivan 710		Fred Wilcox (Ind.) 353		Kathy Dunderdale

St. John's suburbs

Electoral District	Candidates									Incumbent
		PC		Liberal		NDP		Other
Cape St. Francis		Jack Byrne 4,983		Bill Tapper 739		Kathleen Connors 680				Jack Byrne
Conception Bay East—Bell Island		Dianne Whalen 3,991		Linda Goodyear 999		Gavin Will 569				Dianne Whalen
Conception Bay South		Terry French 4,671		Jerry Young 953		Touria Tougui 259				Terry French
Mount Pearl North		Steve Kent 4,751		Elaine Reid 505		Janice Lockyer 330				Harvey Hodder †
Mount Pearl South		Dave Denine 4,163		William Reid 441		Tom McGinnis 332				Dave Denine
Topsail		Elizabeth Marshall 4,892		Cynthia Barron-Layden 513		Kyle Rees 486				Elizabeth Marshall

Avalon and Burin Peninsulas

Electoral District	Candidates									Incumbent
		PC		Liberal		NDP		Other
Bellevue		Calvin Peach 2,908		Denise Pike 2,139		Ian Slade 155				Percy Barrett †
Burin—Placentia West		Clyde Jackman 3,141		George Brake 457		Julie Mitchell 1,704				Clyde Jackman
Carbonear—Harbour Grace		Jerome Kennedy 4,367		Paul Baldwin 1,463						George Sweeney †
Ferryland		Keith Hutchings 4,256		Kevin Bennett 472		Grace Bavington 351				Keith Hutchings
Grand Bank		Darin King 3,563		Rod Cake 889						Judy Foote †
Harbour Main		Tom Hedderson 4,586		Kevin Slaney 635		Jean Dandenault 323				Tom Hedderson
Placentia—St. Mary's		Felix Collins 3,086				Jennifer Coultas 812				Felix Collins
Port de Grave		Glenn Littlejohn 3,069		Roland Butler 3,329		Randy Dawe 162				Roland Butler
Trinity—Bay de Verde		Charlene Johnson 3,572		Bruce Layman 1,137		Don Penney 257				Charlene Johnson

Central Newfoundland

Electoral District	Candidates									Incumbent
		PC		Liberal		NDP		Other
Baie Verte—Springdale		Tom Rideout 3,388		Glendon Bungay 798		Tim Howse 301				Paul Shelley †$
Bonavista North		Harry Harding 2,883		Winston Carter 1,292		Howard Parsons 80				Harry Harding
Bonavista South		Roger Fitzgerald acclaimed		Clayton Hobbs withdrew^						Roger Fitzgerald
Exploits		Clayton Forsey 3,396		Jody Fancey 1,295						Clayton Forsey
Gander		Kevin O'Brien 3,599		Stephanie Winsor 1,193						Kevin O'Brien
Grand Falls-Windsor—Buchans‡		Susan Sullivan		Gerry Tobin‡		Junior C. Downey				Anna Thistle †
Grand Falls-Windsor—Green Bay South		Ray Hunter 2,535		Aubrey Smith 957		John Whelan 188				Ray Hunter
Lewisporte		Wade Verge 2,660		John Martin 647		Garry Vatcher 460				Tom Rideout
Terra Nova		Paul Oram 3,427		Katty Gallant 781		Bill Cashin 358		Lionel Glover (Ind.) 62		Paul Oram
The Isles of Notre Dame		Derrick Dalley 2,371		Gerry Reid 2,364						Gerry Reid
Trinity North		Ross Wiseman 3,939		Kathryn Small 609		Janet Stringer 247				Ross Wiseman

$Shelley officially resigned on July 12, 2007. However, a by-election was not held to fill the seat prior to the general election call.^[4]

‡Tobin died on October 1; the election in this district was deferred until November 6. See "Special election" section below.

^Clayton Hobbs withdrew for health reasons on October 5; as the only remaining candidate, incumbent Roger Fitzgerald was immediately declared re-elected.^[5]

Western and Southern Newfoundland

Electoral District	Candidates									Incumbent
		PC		Liberal		NDP		Other
Bay of Islands		Terry Loder 2,817		Eddie Joyce 2,520		Charlie Murphy 107				Eddie Joyce
Burgeo—La Poile		Colin Short 1,864		Kelvin Parsons 2,882		June Hiscock 85				Kelvin Parsons
Fortune Bay—Cape La Hune		Tracey Perry 2,539		Elvis Loveless 1,394		Sheldon Hynes 84				Oliver Langdon †
Humber East		Tom Marshall 4,160		Michael Hoffe 537		Jean Graham 256				Tom Marshall
Humber Valley		Darryl Kelly 3,023		Dwight Ball 2,769		Kris Hynes 87				Dwight Ball
Humber West		Danny Williams 3,755		Maurice Budgell 516						Danny Williams
Port au Port		Tony Cornect 3,936		Michelle Felix-Morgan 910						Tony Cornect
St. Barbe		Wallace Young 2,491		Jim Bennett 1,560		Gary Noel 196				Wallace Young
St. George's—Stephenville East		Joan Burke 3,143		George Lee 1,062						Joan Burke
The Straits - White Bay North		Trevor Taylor 2,651		Boyd Noel 1,358		Gerry Ryall 171				Trevor Taylor

Labrador

Electoral District	Candidates									Incumbent
		PC		Liberal		NDP		Other
Cartwright—L'Anse au Clair		Dennis Normore 646		Yvonne Jones 1,736						Yvonne Jones
Labrador West		Jim Baker 2,204		Karen Oldford 287		Darrel Brenton 1,848				Jim Baker
Lake Melville		John Hickey 2,380		Chris Montague 1,672		Bill Cooper 147				John Hickey
Torngat Mountains		Patty Pottle 680		Danny Dumaresque 604				Jim Tuttauk (Lab.) 109		Vacant since resignation of Wally Andersen on September 5.

Deferred election

Due to the death of Liberal candidate Gerry Tobin on October 1, the election in the riding of Grand Falls-Windsor-Buchans was delayed. The deferred election for this riding took place on November 6, 2007.

The new Liberal candidate, John Woodrow, withdrew from the race on November 3 after it was revealed that he had previously made false allegations of bribery against MHA Beaton Tulk in 1998,^[6] but then revived his campaign on November 5 after learning that it was too late to actually remove his name from the ballot.^[7]

Electoral District	Candidates									Incumbent
		PC		Liberal		NDP		Other
Grand Falls-Windsor—Buchans		Susan Sullivan 2,767		John J. Woodrow 163		Junior C. Downey 922				Anna Thistle †

Election Results by Party and Seats

Election	Progressive Conservative	Liberal	NDP
2007	44	3	1

See also

• 46th General Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador
• Speaker of the House of Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador
• List of Newfoundland and Labrador General Assemblies
• List of Newfoundland and Labrador political parties

External links

General resources

• Government of Newfoundland and Labrador
• Elections Newfoundland and Labrador

Election coverage

• Election Almanac - Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Election
• Professor Antweiler's Voter Migration Election Forecaster - Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Election 2007

Parties

• Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland and Labrador (see also Conservative Party of Canada)
• Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador (see also Liberal Party of Canada)
• Newfoundland and Labrador New Democratic Party (see also New Democratic Party)

References

1. "Candidate's death shocks Liberal campaign". CBC News. October 2, 2007.
2. "Postponement of Advance Poll and Polling Day in Grand Falls-Windsor-Buchans".
3. "PCs chalk up early victory as Liberal withdraws from election". CBC News. October 5, 2007.
4. Baie Verte-Springdale Byelection called, Office of the Premier press release, September 10, 2007
5. Withdrawal of Candidate in Bonavista South, Office of the Chief Electoral Officer press release, October 5, 2007
6. "Woodrow withdraws from race", Exploits Valley Advertiser, November 5, 2007.
7. "Stuck on ballot, Liberal candidate revives campaign", cbc.ca, November 5, 2007.