2007 Newfoundland and Labrador provincial by-elections explained

Five provincial by-elections were held in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2007, following vacancies in the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly. Three took place on February 8, and two took place on February 13.

In addition, one special election took place on November 6, 2007, following the death of a candidate during the general election campaign in October.

Ferryland

Ferryland by-election, February 8, 2007
resignation of Loyola Sullivan
PartyCandidateVotes%+/-
Progressive ConservativeKeith Hutchings2,77075.5
LiberalKevin Bennett71519.5
New DemocratRick Boland1835.0

Kilbride

Kilbride by-election, February 8, 2007
resignation of Ed Byrne
PartyCandidateVotes%+/-
Progressive ConservativeJohn Dinn2,74478.8
LiberalBob Clarke50814.6
New DemocratGemma Schlamp-Hickey2296.6

Port au Port

Port au Port by-election, February 8, 2007
resignation of Jim Hodder
PartyCandidateVotes%+/-
Progressive ConservativeTony Cornect2,70162.0
LiberalMark Felix1,52134.9
New DemocratPaul O'Keefe1353.1

Humber Valley

At first, it was announced that Darryl Kelly, the PC candidate, had won the election by a margin of twelve votes; however, it turned out that this was a mistake and that Dwight Ball, the Liberal candidate, had won by a margin of eighteen votes instead.[1] Turnout was 62 per cent.[2] Due to the close result of the by-election (which turned out to have been won by a margin of only nine votes in the official result), a judicial recount was ordered for March 1–2, 2007,[3] which resulted in a reduction of Ball's lead to seven votes.[4]

In the general election on October 9, however, Kelly defeated Ball by a 254-vote margin.

Humber Valley by-election, February 13, 2007
Resignation of Kathy Goudie
PartyCandidateVotes%+/-
LiberalDwight Ball2,15348.7
Progressive ConservativeDarryl Kelly2,14648.5
New DemocratShelley Senior1222.8

Labrador West

The NDP campaign suffered a number of mishaps, most notably the decision of their presumed candidate Karen Oldford to run for the Liberals instead, and the president of the United Steelworkers union local at Wabush Mines choosing to endorse the Labrador Party instead of the NDP.[5]

Labrador West by-election, February 13, 2007
resignation of Randy Collins
PartyCandidateVotes%+/-
Progressive ConservativeJim Baker1,66641.6
New DemocratDarrel Brenton1,24031.0
Labrador PartyRon Barron67016.7
LiberalKaren Oldford42710.7

Grand Falls-Windsor-Buchans

During the general election campaign, Liberal candidate Gerry Tobin died on October 1. As a result, the election was deferred in this district from October 9 to November 6. 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]

Grand Falls-Windsor-Buchans special election, November 6, 2007
PartyCandidateVotes%+/-
Progressive ConservativeSusan Sullivan2,76771.83
New DemocratJunior C. Downey92223.93
LiberalJohn J. Woodrow1634.23

Notes and References

  1. News: cnews.canoe.ca.
  2. Web site: Election Night Results . Releases.gov.nl.ca . 2017-07-06.
  3. Web site: CBC News. Judicial recount set for Humber Valley ballots . 2007-11-09 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070225141351/http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2007/02/22/judicial-recount.html . 2007-02-25 .
  4. Web site: CBC News. Liberal declared winner in Humber Valley recount . 2007-11-09 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070312170415/http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2007/03/02/humber-valley.html . 2007-03-12 .
  5. Web site: NDP support leaking to Labrador Party: union official . 2007-11-09 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070228073911/http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2007/02/23/lab-west.html . 2007-02-28 .
  6. https://archive.today/20120904110352/http://www.gfwadvertiser.ca/index.cfm?sid=77501&sc=291 "Woodrow withdraws from race"
  7. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2007/11/05/woodrow-ballot.html "Stuck on ballot, Liberal candidate revives campaign"