2015 Prince Edward Island general election

Prince Edward Island general election, 2015

May 4, 2015 (2015-05-04)
All 27 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island 14 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
First party Second party   LIB PC Leader Wade MacLauchlan Rob Lantz Party Liberal Progressive Conservative Leader since February 21, 2015 February 28, 2015 Leader's seat York-Oyster Bed Ran in Charlottetown-Brighton (lost) Last election 22 seats, 51.39% 5 seats, 40.18% Seats before 20 3 Seats won 18 8 Seat change 2 5 Percentage 40.83% 37.39% Swing 10.56pp 2.79pp   Third party Fourth party   150x150px NDP Leader Peter Bevan-Baker Michael Redmond Party Green New Democratic Leader since November 3, 2012 October 13, 2012 Leader's seat Kellys Cross-Cumberland Ran in Montague-Kilmuir (lost) Last election 0 seats, 4.36% 0 seats, 3.16% Seats before 0 0 Seats won 1 0 Seat change 1 ±0 Percentage 10.81% 10.97% Swing 6.45pp 7.81pp
200px Map of PEI's ridings coloured in based on how they voted
Premier before election Wade MacLauchlan Liberal Premier-designate Wade MacLauchlan Liberal

The 65th Prince Edward Island general election was held May 4, 2015. Under amendments passed by the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island in 2008, Prince Edward Island elections are usually held on the first Monday of October in the fourth calendar year, unless it is dissolved earlier by the Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island due to a motion of no confidence. The current government had hinted that an election would be held "before Mother's Day" 2015, and such a dissolution would avoid any conflicts with the next federal election, expected to be held in October 2015.

The governing Liberals were elected to a third consecutive majority government under new leader Wade MacLauchlan, while the Progressive Conservatives made slight gains despite party leader Rob Lantz failing to win election in Charlottetown-Brighton. The Green Party, meanwhile, won its first seat in the legislature, with leader Peter Bevan-Baker elected in Kellys Cross-Cumberland. The New Democratic Party was shut out.

Standings

Summary of the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island election results

Party		Party leader	Candidates	Seats				Popular vote
				2011	Dissol.	2015	Change	#	%	Change
	Liberal	Wade MacLauchlan	27	22	20	18	-4	33,481	40.83%	-10.55%
	Progressive Conservative	Rob Lantz	27	5	3	8	+3	30,663	37.39%	-2.77%
	Green	Peter Bevan-Baker	24	0	0	1	+1	8,857	10.81%	+6.45%
	New Democratic	Michael Redmond	27	0	0	0		8,997	10.97%	+7.81%
	Independent			0	1	0
	Vacant				3	-	-
Total			105	27	27	27		81,998

Results by region

Party Name			Cardigan	Malpeque	Charlottetown	Egmont	Total
	Liberal	Seats:	2	2	7	7	18
		Popular Vote:	38.16%	36.33%	40.69%	49.00%	40.83%
	Progressive Conservative	Seats:	5	3	0	0	8
		Popular Vote:	44.95%	38.21%	31.08%	34.97%	37.39%
	Green	Seats:	0	1	0	0	1
		Popular Vote:	5.45%	18.76%	12.41%	6.01%	10.81%
Total seats:			7	6	7	7	27
Parties that won no seats:
	NDP	Vote:	2,404	1,430	3,261	1,902	8,997
		Popular Vote:	11.44%	6.69%	15.82%	10.01%	10.98%

Timeline

2011

• October 3: The Prince Edward Island Liberal Party under Robert Ghiz is re-elected with a majority government in the 64th Prince Edward Island general election.

2012

• October 13: The New Democratic Party elects Michael Redmond as party leader.
• November 3: The Green Party elects Peter Bevan-Baker as party leader
• December 5: Progressive Conservative leader Olive Crane announces her intention to resign as party leader in January 2013 after party members narrowly vote against having a leadership review. Crane further announces that she will stay on as Leader of the Opposition.

2013

• January 30: Olive Crane resigns as Leader of the Opposition. The Progressive Conservative caucus names Tignish-Palmer Road MLA Hal Perry, a candidate for the interim leadership, as Leader of the Opposition.
• January 31: Olive Crane resigns as Progressive Conservative leader. Georgetown-St. Peters MLA Steven Myers is elected interim PC leader over Leader of the Opposition and Tignish-Palmer Road MLA Hal Perry. Perry initially announces that he will remain Leader of the Opposition, despite Myers' urging that the party leader should hold both positions.
• February 11: Tignish-Palmer Road MLA Hal Perry steps down as Leader of the Opposition, citing internal divisions within the Progressive Conservative Party. Interim PC leader and Georgetown-St. Peters MLA Steven Myers is subsequently named Leader of the Opposition.
• October 3: In what is believed to be the first instance of a sitting MLA crossing the floor, Tignish-Palmer Road MLA Hal Perry leaves the Progressive Conservatives to join the Liberals, citing his concerns with the federal Conservative governments changes to employment insurance.
• October 4: Morell-Mermaid MLA and former Progressive Conservative leader Olive Crane is kicked out of the party. Crane subsequently announces she will sit as an independent.

2014

• November 13: Robert Ghiz announces he will be resigning as Premier in early 2015 as soon as the Prince Edward Island Liberal Party elects a new leader.

2015

• February 21: The Prince Edward Island Liberal Party held its leadership election. As the sole candidate nominated, Wade MacLauchlan was acclaimed the new leader and incoming premier.
• February 23: Robert Ghiz resigns as Premier. Wade MacLauchlan is appointed and sworn in as the new Premier. Later that day, Ghiz, Wes Sheridan, and Robert Vessey resign as MLAs, triggering potential by-elections in their former seats (Charlottetown-Brighton, Kensington-Malpeque, and York-Oyster Bed, respectively).
• February 28: At the party's leadership election, Rob Lantz is elected leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Prince Edward Island.
• April 6: After being nominated as the Liberal candidate for York-Oyster Bed, Premier Wade MacLauchlin dropped the writ, calling for an election on May 4, 2015.
• April 10: The Island Party drops out of the campaign, due to not having enough candidates
• April 27: Party leaders' first televised debate, held in Summerside.
• April 30: A second televised debate was held for the party leaders, in Charlottetown.
• May 4: Election results - The Liberals win a third consecutive majority government, with a reduced number of 18 seats. The Progressive Conservatives remain as the official opposition, with an increase to 8 seats. The Greens make Prince Edward Island political history, winning their first seat.

Opinion polls

File:PEI voting intentions since the 2011 election.png

Voting intentions since the 2011 election.

Polling Firm	Last date of polling	Link	Liberal	PC	Green	NDP	Island	Other
Corporate Research Associates	April 23, 2015	HTML	44	35	6	15
Abingdon Research	April 20, 2015	PDF	43	27	12	18
Corporate Research Associates	February 28, 2015	PDF	58	26	4	12		0
Corporate Research Associates	November 25, 2014	PDF	50	23	11	15	0	0
Corporate Research Associates	September 1, 2014	PDF	48	28	7	16	0	0
Corporate Research Associates	May 22, 2014	PDF	53	23	3	21	0	0
Corporate Research Associates	February 27, 2014	PDF	53	17	7	22	0	1
Corporate Research Associates	November 27, 2013	PDF	49	17	7	26	0	1
Corporate Research Associates	August 28, 2013	PDF	42	23	3	32	0	0
Corporate Research Associates	May 28, 2013	PDF	52	22	5	21	0	1
Corporate Research Associates	March 2, 2013	PDF	51	16	7	26	0	0
Corporate Research Associates	December 1, 2012	PDF	45	28	5	22	0	0
Corporate Research Associates	August 31, 2012	PDF	42	32	8	18	0	0
Corporate Research Associates	June 4, 2012	PDF	47	26	8	18	1	1
Corporate Research Associates	February 26, 2012	PDF	50	33	5	11	0	0
Corporate Research Associates	November 29, 2011	PDF	53	34	4	9	0	0
2011 election	October 3, 2011		51.38	40.16	4.36	3.16	0.91	0.02

Candidates

• Bold designates member of cabinet or Leader of the Party
• Italics in the Candidate section designates a person seeking the party nomination

Cardigan

Electoral District	Candidates											Incumbent
		Liberal		PC		Green		NDP		Other
4. Belfast-Murray River		Charlie McGeoghegan 1,095		Darlene Compton 1,203		Jordan MacPhee 152		Alan Hicken 216				Charlie McGeoghegan
2. Georgetown-St. Peters		Russell Stewart 1,170		Steven Myers 1,448		Heather Gallant 145		Nathan Bushey 256				Steven Myers
3. Montague-Kilmuir		Allen Roach 1,060		Andy Daggett 785		Jason Furness 106		Michael Redmond 585				Allen Roach
7. Morell-Mermaid		Dan MacDonald 1,114		Sidney MacEwen 1,501		Meaghan Lister 177		Edith Perry 211				Olive Crane†
1. Souris-Elmira		Tommy Kickham 951		Colin LaVie 1,179				Susan Birt 528				Colin LaVie
6. Stratford-Kinlock		David Dunphy 1,453		James Aylward 2,155		Sam Saunders 330		Chris van Ouwerkerk 350				James Aylward
5. Vernon River-Stratford*		Alan McIsaac* 1,173		Mary Ellen McInnis* 1,173		Nick Graveline 234		Kathleen Romans 258				Alan McIsaac

• This riding vote count resulted in a tie between McIsaac and McInnis. As a result, a coin toss was held, which determined McIsaac, the Liberal candidate, as the winner.

Malpeque

Electoral District	Candidates											Incumbent
		Liberal		PC		Green		NDP		Other
19. Borden-Kinkora		Ramona Roberts 1,154		Jamie Fox 1,597		Ranald MacFarlane 511		Aleida Tweten 129				George Webster†
16. Cornwall-Meadowbank		Heath MacDonald 1,444		Michael Drake 1,056		Rosalyn Ridlington Abbott 377		Jennifer Coughlin 243				Ron MacKinley†
17. Kellys Cross-Cumberland		Valerie Docherty 1,046		Randy Robar 609		Peter Bevan-Baker 2,077		Jesse Cousins 58				Valerie Docherty
20. Kensington-Malpeque		Paul Montgomery 1,033		Matthew MacKay 1,984		Lynne Lund 374		Joseph Larkin 264				Vacant
18. Rustico-Emerald		Bertha Campbell 1,152		Brad Trivers 1,585		Marianne Janowicz 325		Leah Jane Hayward 294				Carolyn Bertram†
9. York-Oyster Bed		Wade MacLauchlan 1,938		Jim Carragher 1,338		Thane Bernard 347		Gordon Gay 442				Vacant

Charlottetown

Electoral District	Candidates											Incumbent
		Liberal		PC		Green		NDP		Other
13. Charlottetown-Brighton		Jordan Brown 1,054		Rob Lantz 1,032		Derrick Biso 352		Bob MacLean 265				Vacant
14. Charlottetown-Lewis Point		Kathleen Casey 1,040		Dianne Young 821		Doug Millington 244		Gord McNeilly 931				Kathleen Casey
11. Charlottetown-Parkdale		Doug Currie 1,166		Lynn MacLaren 699		Becka Viau 511		Andrew Watts 292				Doug Currie
10. Charlottetown-Sherwood		Robert Mitchell 1,425		Mike Gillis 1,031		Mitchell Gallant 295		Karalee McAskill 360				Robert Mitchell
12. Charlottetown-Victoria Park		Richard Brown 955		Joey Kitson 666		Darcie Lanthier 456		Chris Clay 348				Richard Brown
8. Tracadie-Hillsborough Park		Buck Watts 1,354		Darren Creamer 826		Isaac Williams 237		Jason Murray 549				Buck Watts
15. West Royalty-Springvale		Bush Dumville 1,389		Linda Clements 1,330		Charles Sanderson 462		Peter Meggs 516				Bush Dumville

Egmont

Electoral District	Candidates											Incumbent
		Liberal		PC		Green		NDP		Other
26. Alberton-Roseville		Pat Murphy 1,569		John Griffin 1,166				Orville Lewis 188				Pat Murphy
24. Evangeline-Miscouche		Sonny Gallant 1,419		Debbie Montgomery 586		Jordan Cameron 125		Grant Gallant 138				Sonny Gallant
25. O'Leary-Inverness		Robert Henderson 1,310		Daniel MacDonald 1,063				Billy Mackendrick 311				Robert Henderson
22. Summerside-St. Eleanors		Tina Mundy 1,246		Major Stewart 1,098		Caleb Adams 321		Olivia Wood 358				Gerard Greenan†
21. Summerside-Wilmot		Janice Sherry 1,135		Brian Ramsay 1,105		Donald MacFadzen-Reid 285		Scott Gaudet 353				Janice Sherry
27. Tignish-Palmer Road		Hal Perry 1,486		Joseph Profit 818		Malcolm Pitre 167		John A'Hearn 81				Hal Perry
23. Tyne Valley-Linkletter		Paula Biggar 1,147		Ryan Williams 810		Shelagh Young 240		Jacqueline Tuplin 473				Paula Biggar

External links

• P.E.I. Votes 2015: Tracking the candidates