2014 Quebec general election

The 2014 Quebec general election was held on April 7, 2014 to elect members to the National Assembly of Quebec. The incumbent Parti Québécois which had won a minority government in 2012 was defeated by the Quebec Liberal Party under Philippe Couillard who 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. Pauline Marois electoral defeat marked the shortest stay of any Quebec provincial government since the Canadian Confederation. 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. This election saw the return of the Liberals to power 2 years after their defeat in 2012. To date this is the last election where the Liberal Party won a majority of seats in the Quebec Assembly.

Summary

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.
In March 2014, Premier Pauline Marois was accused of antisemitism by The Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs surrounding the statements made by party member Louise Mailloux. Mailloux had written statements equating the Jewish practice of circumcision to rape and claimed that halal and kosher food prices were kept high to fund religious activities abroad. She wrote that the money went to: “For the Jews, to finance Israel’s colonization in Palestinian territories? And for Muslims, to fund the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamists who want to impose Islam worldwide?” Marois defended Mailloux, denying antisemitism within the party and stated that she had "very good relations with the leaders of this community and the leaders of all the different communities in Quebec.” CIJA claimed Marois's apology and statements were inadequate and "meaningless excuses" with CIJA Quebec vice-president, Luciano Del Negro, stating: "She alleges a misunderstanding and refuses to basically recognize her views are not only offensive, but anti-Semitic in nature.”

Opinion polls

Polling firm	Last date of polling	Link	PQ	QLP	CAQ	QS	ON	GPQ	Other
Election results			25.38	41.52	23.05	7.63	0.73	0.55	1.14
Angus Reid			27	39	25	7	1	1	1
Segma Recherche			25.7	41.5	22.0	8.9			1.9
Forum Research			24	44	23	6	0	2	1
Léger Marketing			29	38	23	9		1	1
EKOS			27.0	39.8	21.1	9.4			2.8
Ipsos Reid			28	40	18	12	0		2
Forum Research			29	41	19	7	1	2	1
Léger Marketing			33	40	15	9	1	1	1
Forum Research			32	45	13	7	0	2	1
Ipsos Reid			33	40	14	9	2		2
CROP			36	39	13	10	1		1
Léger Marketing			37	37	14	9	1	1	1
CROP			36	36	17	8	1		2
Forum Research			38	40	12	7	0	2	1
Léger Marketing			37	35	15	8	1	2	1
2012 Election			31.95	31.20	27.05	6.03	1.89	0.99	0.89

Results among "likely voters"

Media endorsements

Parti Québécois

Le Devoir

Quebec Liberal Party

La Presse
''Montreal Gazette''

List of candidates

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

11380
45.70%
10580
42.20%
1061
4.26%
1540
6.18%
130
0.52%
283
1.14%
6649
19.12%
17348
49.88%
8093
23.27%
1910
5.49%
158
0.45%
347
1.00%
Gaétan Mercier
272
0.78%
10026
52.03%
6513
33.80%
1192
6.19%
989
5.13%
194
1.01%
255
1.32%
Christian Rioux
99
0.51%
3319
40.17%
4137
50.07%
262
3.17%
499
6.04%
46
0.56%
18025
61.16%
6712
22.77%
3019
10.24%
1511
5.13%
207
0.70%
12028
40.58%
8888
29.99%
3186
10.75%
4851
16.37%
327
1.10%
138
0.47%
Pier-Luc Gagnon
219
0.74%
8378
23.95%
18086
51.69%
5794
16.56%
2129
6.09%
245
0.70%
354
''1.01%''

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

11245
34.48%
9640
29.56%
5691
17.45%
2105
6.46%
327
1.00%
3601
11.04%
8919
32.13%
11386
41.02%
5240
18.88%
1494
5.38%
285
1.03%
431
1.55%
8910
39.99%
8513
38.21%
2898
13.01%
1502
6.74%
458
2.06%
13487
43.52%
8254
26.63%
7318
23.61%
1608
5.19%
326
1.05%
13159
44.53%
8331
28.19%
5412
18.32%
1872
6.34%
222
0.75%
318
1.08%
Yann Lavoie
235
0.80%
11029
55.00%
4366
21.77%
3152
15.72%
1297
6.47%
207
1.03%
10764
33.33%
17816
55.17%
2239
6.93%
1018
3.15%
218
0.68%
237
''0.73%''

[Capitale-Nationale]

7215
17.92%
16934
42.07%
13053
32.43%
1936
4.81%
257
0.64%
450
1.12%
315
0.78%
Normand Fournier
40
0.10%

Daniel Lachance
52
0.13%
12201
32.87%
13083
35.24%
9682
26.08%
1539
4.15%
287
0.77%
332
0.89%
5289
12.22%
12940
29.91%
22679
52.41%
1617
3.74%
289
0.67%
455
1.05%
6998
22.40%
11645
37.27%
7431
23.78%
3626
11.60%
782
2.50%
246
0.79%
93
0.30%
Sébastien Dumais
384
1.23%

Claude Moreau
43
0.14%
7824
22.48%
15492
44.50%
7158
20.56%
3151
9.05%
526
1.51%
206
0.59%
389
1.12%
Stéphane Pouleur
66
0.19%
4281
10.07%
14362
33.80%
21386
50.33%
1444
3.40%
274
0.64%
561
1.32%
185
0.44%
6841
18.37%
18327
49.22%
9650
25.92%
1840
4.94%
266
0.71%
310
0.83%
7242
17.11%
17113
40.42%
14323
33.83%
1981
4.68%
255
0.60%
1015
2.40%
407
0.96%
4525
14.67%
12779
41.42%
11720
37.99%
1209
3.92%
227
0.74%
391
1.27%
11376
31.66%
10925
30.40%
5865
16.32%
5495
15.29%
1613
4.21%
198
0.55%
49
0.14%
Sylvain Drolet
127
0.35%

Jean-Luc Savard
385
1.07%
6337
15.03%
18398
43.64%
14535
34.48%
1920
4.55%
400
0.95%
564
''1.34%''

[Mauricie]

10481
30.17%
11615
33.44%
10569
30.43%
1848
5.32%
222
0.64%
5492
23.25%
12422
52.58%
4432
18.76%
1104
4.67%
124
0.52%
52
0.22%
8739
25.11%
13658
39.24%
9846
28.29%
2013
5.78%
154
0.44%
119
0.34%
François-Xavier Richmond
35
0.10%
Jimmy Thibodeau
238
0.68%
7591
30.93%
8244
33.59%
6982
28.45%
1304
5.31%
152
0.62%
268
1.09%
8452
28.39%
11658
39.16%
6634
22.28%
2531
8.50%
238
0.80%
260
''0.87%''

[Estrie]

7879
29.65%
10840
40.79%
6078
22.87%
1541
5.80%
236
0.89%
7767
26.23%
13055
44.09%
6227
21.03%
2291
7.74%
273
0.92%
11521
27.60%
17178
41.16%
9197
22.04%
2833
6.79%
236
0.57%
209
0.50%
563
1.35%
12725
32.91%
14899
38.53%
6607
17.09%
3136
8.11%
265
0.69%
181
0.47%
478
1.24%
Philippe Lafrance
292
0.76%

Lionel Lambert
82
0.21%
10525
30.98%
12380
36.44%
5672
16.69%
4393
12.93%
321
0.94%
181
0.53%
328
0.97%
Hubert Richard
48
0.14%

Jossy Roy
130
''0.38%''

[Montréal]

East

7326
23.19%
16049
50.81%
5315
16.83%
2448
7.75%
147
0.47%
303
0.96%
5646
19.07%
17905
60.48%
3624
12.24%
1747
5.90%
119
0.40%
351
1.19%
214
0.72
12525
37.78%
9567
28.86%
6510
19.64%
3714
11.20%
243
0.73%
489
1.48%
101
0.30%
10892
31.60%
13440
39.00%
4731
13.73%
4726
13.71%
227
0.66%
448
1.30%
6438
20.31%
5642
17.80%
2748
8.67%
16155
50.98%
358
1.13%
351
1.11%
9038
34.86%
4675
18.03%
3097
11.95%
7926
30.57%
316
1.22%
352
1.36%
278
1.07%
Christine Dandenault
61
0.24%

Etienne Mallette
182
0.70%
2956
8.60%
27007
78.53%
2820
8.20%
1154
3.36%
379
1.10%
73
0.21%
3327
10.84%
22476
73.26%
3303
10.77%
1189
3.88%
116
0.38%
233
0.76%
34
0.11%
5369
15.93%
15566
46.19%
2431
7.21%
9330
27.69%
263
0.78%
482
1.43%
116
0.34%
Hugô St-Onge
143
0.42%
5872
20.50%
6593
23.02%
2400
8.38%
13228
46.19%
228
0.80%
189
0.66%
Roger Hughes
129
0.45%
12021
43.22%
6229
22.40%
6692
24.06%
2165
7.78%
234
0.84%
332
1.19%
56
0.20%
Geneviève Royer
82
0.29%
12712
34.27%
11114
29.96%
5252
14.16%
6930
18.68%
321
0.87%
488
1.32%
200
0.54%
Stéphane Chénier
78
0.21%
7612
27.61%
8346
30.27%
2364
8.57%
8437
30.60%
210
0.76%
393
1.43%
164
0.59%
Serge Lachapelle
47
0.17
3782
14.71%
15945
62.02%
2380
9.26
2795
10.87%
177
0.69%
304
1.18%
145
0.56%
Benoit Valiquette
181
''0.70%''

West

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

[Outaouais]

Pierre Soublière

[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

Results

Summary analysis

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

Detailed analysis

! rowspan="2" colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | Party
! rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | Party leader
! rowspan="2" style="font-size:80%;" | Candidates
! colspan="5" style="text-align:center;" | Seats
! colspan="3" style="text-align:center;" | Popular vote

Summary analysis

Parties	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th
	70	30	25
	30	58	34	2
	22	32	56	12
	3	4	10	105	2
		1		1	1
				4	36
				1	1
					47
					22
					11
					3
					1
					1