2014 Quebec general election


The 2014 Quebec general election was held on April 7, 2014 to elect members to the National Assembly of Quebec.

Summary

The Quebec Liberal Party under Philippe Couillard won a majority government of 70 seats, while the incumbent Parti Québécois finished second with 30 seats, becoming the first single-term government since Jean-Jacques Bertrand's Union Nationale government was defeated in 1970. It marked the lowest seat total for the Parti Québécois since 1989 and its smallest share of the popular vote since its inaugural run in 1970, as Premier Pauline Marois lost her own riding. The Coalition Avenir Québec under François Legault made minor gains in terms of seats despite receiving a smaller share of the popular vote than in the previous election. Québec solidaire won an additional seat, though co-spokesperson Andrés Fontecilla failed to win his riding.
At the outset of the campaign, the Parti Québécois had a modest lead in the polls and appeared to have a realistic prospect of winning a majority government. However, the party's support rapidly collapsed after the party announced Pierre Karl Péladeau, the president and CEO of media conglomerate Quebecor, as a star candidate. Péladeau's conservative and anti-union business background was widely criticized as being at odds with the party's social democratic history; and his outspoken support for a third referendum on Quebec sovereignty quickly sidelined the issues — including the Charter of Quebec Values and the corruption allegations against the Liberals, the latter of which had contributed to the defeat of Jean Charest's government in the 2012 election — which the party had identified as its primary campaign themes, alienating many voters who had little desire to revive the sovereignty issue.

Timeline (2012-2014)

Seat changes

Changes of party leaders

Other developments

Incumbent MNAs who did not run for re-election

Results

Summary analysis

Pairing off the top three parties, swings were calculated to be:

Detailed analysis

Opinion polls

Polling firmLast date of pollingLinkPQQLPCAQQSONGPQOther
Election results25.3841.5223.057.630.730.551.14
Angus Reid2739257111
Segma Recherche25.741.522.08.91.9
Forum Research2444236021
Léger Marketing293823911
EKOS27.039.821.19.42.8
Ipsos Reid2840181202
Forum Research2941197121
Léger Marketing3340159111
Forum Research3245137021
Ipsos Reid334014922
CROP3639131011
Léger Marketing3737149111
CROP363617812
Forum Research3840127021
Léger Marketing3735158121
2012 Election31.9531.2027.056.031.890.990.89

Results among "likely voters"

Pre-campaign period

List of candidates

[Bas-Saint-Laurent] and [Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine]

Gaétan Mercier
Christian Rioux
Pier-Luc Gagnon

[Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean] and [Côte-Nord]

Yann Lavoie

[Capitale-Nationale]

Normand Fournier

Daniel Lachance
Sébastien Dumais

Claude Moreau
Stéphane Pouleur
Sylvain Drolet

Jean-Luc Savard

[Mauricie]

François-Xavier Richmond
Jimmy Thibodeau

[Estrie]

Philippe Lafrance

Lionel Lambert
Hubert Richard

Jossy Roy

[Montréal]

East

Christine Dandenault

Etienne Mallette
Hugô St-Onge
Roger Hughes
Geneviève Royer
Stéphane Chénier
Serge Lachapelle
Benoit Valiquette

West

Pierre Ennio Crespi
Diane Johnston
Simon Pouliot
Jairo Gaston Sanchez
Guy Morissette
Eileen Studd

[Outaouais]

Pierre Soublière

[Abitibi-Témiscamingue] and [Nord-du-Québec]

[Chaudière-Appalaches] and [Centre-du-Québec]

Jean Paquet
Rodrigue Leblanc

Laval">Laval, Quebec">Laval

Emily Gagnon
Nick Keramarios
David Mirabella
Andréanne Demers

Alain Robert

[Lanaudière]

Claude Dupré

[Laurentides]

Rouge Lefebvre
Mario Roy
Delia Fodor

[Montérégie]

Eastern

Mary Harper

South Shore

Victoria Haliburton

Sylvain Larocque
Linda Sullivan
Catherine Lovatt-Smith

Florent Portron
Julien Leclerc

Thomas Radcliffe

Media endorsements

Parti Québécois
Quebec Liberal Party