2007 Newfoundland and Labrador general election

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 ten 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 popular vote share was higher than the winning party's share in 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. As a result, the chief electoral officer postponed the election in that riding until November 6, 2007. 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; consequently, incumbent Progressive Conservative MHA Roger Fitzgerald was declared re-elected.

Results

Results by party

|- style="background-color:#CCCCCC" !rowspan="2" colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" |Party !rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;" |Party leader !rowspan="2"|Candidates !colspan="4" style="text-align:center;" |Seats !colspan="3" style="text-align:center;" |Popular vote

| |- |}

Results by region

Results by riding

Bold incumbents indicates party leaders. The premier's name is boldfaced and italicized.

• All candidate names are those on the official list of confirmed candidates; names in media or on party website may differ slightly.
• Names in boldface type represent party leaders.
• † represents that the incumbent is not running again.
• § represents that the incumbent was defeated for nomination.
• ₰ represents that the incumbent ran in another district and lost the nomination
• ‡ represents that the incumbent is running in a different district.

St. John's

|- 57.35% turnout || |John Dinn 4,443 84.48% | |Roger Linehan 364 6.92% | |Michelle Broderick 421 8.01% | |Paul Perrier (Independent) 31 0.59% ||

| |Lori Ann Campbell-Martino 374 8.59% | |Jane Robinson 650 14.92% | | ||

| |Peter Adams 692 13.29% | |Gemma Schlamp-Hickey 864 16.60% | | ||

| |Simon Lono 561 12.47% | |Matt Power 449 9.98% | | ||

| |Rex Gibbons 425 8.70% | |Clyde Bridger 571 11.69% | | ||

| |George Joyce 1,018 20.43% | |Joan Scott 344 6.90% | | ||

| |Maria Afonso 2,135 39.87% | |Maura Beam 158 2.95% || |Lorraine Michael 3,062 57.18% | | ||

| |Drew Brown 429 7.75% | |Dave Sullivan 710 12.83% | |Fred Wilcox (Independent) 353 6.38% || |Kathy Dunderdale |}

St. John's suburbs

|- 71.01% turnout || |Jack Byrne 4,983 77.45% | |Bill Tapper 739 11.49% | |Kathleen Connors 680 10.57% ||

| |Linda Goodyear 999 17.91% | |Gavin Will 569 10.20% ||

| |Jerry Young 953 10.03% | |Touria Tougui 259 4.64% ||

| |Elaine Reid 505 9.00% | |Janice Lockyer 330 5.88% || |Harvey Hodder† Waterford Valley |- 61.11% turnout || |Dave Denine 4,163 84.12% | |William Reid 441 8.91% | |Tom McGinnis 332 6.71% || |Dave Denine Mount Pearl |- 59.49% turnout || |Elizabeth Marshall 4,892 82.85% | |Cynthia Barron-Layden 513 8.69% | |Kyle Rees 486 8.23% || |Elizabeth Marshall |}

Avalon and Burin Peninsulas

|- 68.11% turnout || |Calvin Peach 2,908 55.82% | |Denise Pike 2,139 41.06% | |Ian Slade 155 2.98% ||

| |George Brake 457 8.60% | |Julie Mitchell 1,704 32.05% ||

| |Paul Baldwin 1,463 24.84% | | ||

| |Kevin Bennett 472 9.25% | |Grace Bavington 351 6.88% ||

| |Rod Cake 889 19.88% | | ||

| |Kevin Slaney 635 11.39% | |Jean Dandenault 323 5.79% || |Tom Hedderson Harbour Main-Whitbourne |- 51.58% turnout || |Felix Collins 3,086 78.24% | | | |Jennifer Coultas 812 20.64% ||

| |Glenn Littlejohn 3,069 46.62% || |Roland Butler 3,329 50.57% | |Randy Dawe 162 2.46% ||

| |Bruce Layman 1,137 22.81% | |Don Penney 257 5.16% || |Charlene Johnson |}

Central Newfoundland

|- 55.78% turnout || |Tom Rideout 3,388 75.14% | |Glendon Bungay 798 17.70% | |Tim Howse 301 6.68% | | || |Vacant Baie Verte-Springdale |- 59.20% turnout || |Harry Harding 2,883 67.09% | |Winston Carter 1,292 30.07% | |Howard Parsons 80 1.86% | | ||

| | | | | | ||

| |Jody Fancey 1,295 27.52% | | | | ||

| |Stephanie Winsor 1,193 24.65% | | | | ||

| |John J. Woodrow 163 4.22% | |Junior C. Downey 922 23.87% | | || |Anna Thistle† Grand Falls-Buchans |- 53.73% turnout || |Ray Hunter 2,535 68.68% | |Aubrey Smith 957 25.93% | |John Whelan 188 5.09% | | || |Ray Hunter Windsor-Springdale |- 48.49% turnout || |Wade Verge 2,660 70.43% | |John Martin 647 17.13% | |Garry Vatcher 460 12.18% | | ||

| |Katty Gallant 781 16.83% | |Bill Cashin 358 7.71% | |Lionel Glover (Independent) 62 1.34% ||

| |Gerry Reid 2,364 49.74% | | | | || |Gerry Reid Twillingate and Fogo |- 57.21% turnout || |Ross Wiseman 3,939 81.77% | |Kathryn Small 609 12.64% | |Janet Stringer 247 5.13% | | || |Ross Wiseman |}

Western and Southern Newfoundland

|- 73.45% turnout || |Terry Loder 2,817 51.56% | |Eddie Joyce 2,520 46.12% | |Charlie Murphy 107 1.96% ||

| |Colin Short 1,864 38.45% || |Kelvin Parsons 2,882 59.45% | |June Hiscock 85 1.75% ||

| |Elvis Loveless 1,394 34.51% | |Sheldon Hynes 84 2.08% ||

| |Michael Hoffe 537 10.78% | |Jean Graham 256 5.14% ||

| |Dwight Ball 2,769 46.98% | |Kris Hynes 87 1.48% ||

| |Maurice Budgell 516 12.01% | | ||

| |Michelle Felix-Morgan 910 18.68% | | ||

| |Jim Bennett 1,560 36.62% | |Gary Noel 196 4.60% ||

| |George Lee 1,062 25.12% | | ||

| |Boyd Noel 1,358 32.10% | |Gerry Ryall 171 4.04% || |Trevor Taylor |}

Labrador

|- 74.28% turnout | |Dennis Normore 646 26.92% || |Yvonne Jones 1,736 72.33% | | | | ||

| |Karen Oldford 287 6.60% | |Darrel Brenton 1,848 42.50% | | ||

| |Chris Montague 1,672 39.55% | |Bill Cooper 147 3.48% | | ||

| |Danny Dumaresque 604 40.81% | | | |Jim Tuttauk 109 7.36% || |Vacant |}

Election Results by Party and Seats

Notes

References

References

1. "October 9, 2007 Provincial General Election Report".
2. (August 22, 2007). "N.L. announces $16B Hebron oilfield deal". [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]].
3. Marland, Alex. (2007). "The 2007 provincial election in Newfoundland and Labrador". Canadian Political Science Review.
4. (15 November 2007). "Jones takes on interim Liberal leadership". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
5. (2007-10-09). "NDP Leader Michael alone again". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
6. [http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/reid-resigns-leadership-vows-grit-rebuilding-1.632148 "Reid resigns leadership, vows Grit rebuilding"] {{Webarchive. link. (2016-05-06 . CBC News, November 13, 2007.)
7. (October 2, 2007). "Candidate's death shocks Liberal campaign". CBC News.
8. "Postponement of Advance Poll and Polling Day in Grand Falls-Windsor-Buchans".
9. (October 5, 2007). "PCs chalk up early victory as Liberal withdraws from election". CBC News.
10. "By-Election Call Necessary for District of Baie Verte".
11. "Withdrawal of Candidate in Bonavista South".