1988 Nova Scotia general election

1988 Nova Scotia general election
← outgoing members members →
52 seats of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly; 27 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	75.76% 8.24 pp
Premier before election; John Buchanan; Progressive Conservative	Premier after election ; John Buchanan; Progressive Conservative

The 1988 Nova Scotia general election was held on September 6, 1988 to elect members of the 55th House of Assembly of the Province of Nova Scotia, Canada. It was won by the Progressive Conservative party.

John Dunsworth, who would later gain fame for playing alcoholic trailer park supervisor Jim Lahey on the TV series Trailer Park Boys, stood as the NDP candidate in Halifax Bedford Basin. He finished in third place with a little over 19% of the vote. His underdog campaign was later the subject of a short documentary.^[1]

Opinion polls

Evolution of voting intentions at provincial level
Polling firm	Last day of survey	Source	PCNS	LANS	NSNDP	Other	ME	Sample
Polling firm	Last day of survey	Source					ME	Sample
Election 1988	September 6, 1988		43.21	39.37	15.67	1.19
Angus Reid	August 30, 1988	^[2]	45	34	20	—	4.0	601
Omnifacts	August 1988	^[3]	41	40	19	—	3.5	804
Omnifacts	July 1988	^[4]	37	38	25	—	2.5	650
Omnifacts	October 1987	^[5]	35	41	24	—	—	500
Omnifacts	October 1986	^[6]	32.7	46.9	20.4	—	—	—
Omnifacts	July 25, 1986	^[7]	30	44	25	—	—	419
Election 1984	November 6, 1984		50.41	31.15	15.87	2.15

Results

Results by party

↓
28	21	2	1
Progressive Conservative	Liberal	New Democratic	Ind

Official results ^[8]
Party		Party leader	# of candidates	Seats				Popular vote
Party		Party leader	# of candidates	1984	Dissolution	Elected	Change	#	%	Change (pp)
	Progressive Conservative	John Buchanan	52	42	40	28	-14	204,150	43.21%	-7.20%
	Liberal	Vince MacLean	52	6	6	21	+15	186,007	39.37%	+8.22%
	New Democratic	Alexa McDonough	52	3	3	2	-1	74,038	15.67%	-0.20%
	Independent		7	0	2	1	+1	5,638	1.19%	+1.04%
	Vacant				1
Total valid votes								469,833	99.45%	-0.13%

Blank and invalid ballots								2,604	0.55%	+0.13%
Total			163	52	52	52	–	472,437	100.00%	–
Registered voters / turnout								623,586	75.76%	+8.24%

Popular vote

PC			43.21%
Liberal			39.37%
New Democratic			15.67%
Independent			1.19%

Seats summary

PC			53.85%
Liberal			40.38%
New Democratic			3.85%
Independent			1.92%

Retiring incumbents

Progressive Conservative

New Democratic Party

Bob Levy, Kings South

Nominated candidates

Legend
bold denotes party leader
† denotes an incumbent who is not running for re-election or was defeated in nomination contest

Valley

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
Electoral district	PC		Liberal		NDP		Independent		Incumbent
Annapolis East		Graham Smith 3,188 44.33%		Earl Rayfuse 3,519 48.93%		Margaret Wolfe 485 6.74%				Gerry Sheehy†
Annapolis West		Greg Kerr 3,090 55.78%		Daurene Lewis 2,068 37.33%		Nancy Onysko 306 5.52%		Leo E. MacDonald 76 1.37%		Greg Kerr
Clare		Guy LeBlanc 3,587 54.02%		Nadine Boudreau 2,773 41.76%		Jan Slakov-Crombie 280 4.22%				Guy LeBlanc
Digby		Maxine Connell 2,687 40.43%		Joseph H. Casey 3,514 52.87%		Susan Jamieson 445 6.70%				Merryl Lawton†
Hants West		Ron Russell 5,091 52.84%		Donzell A. Ross 2,829 29.36%		Penny Reid 1,715 17.80%				Ron Russell
Kings North		George Archibald 3,868 45.42%		Glenn Ells 3,116 36.59%		Don Fraser 1,532 17.99%				George Archibald
Kings South		Derrick Kimball 3,531 42.44%		Perry Wallace 1,710 20.55%		Steve Mattson 3,079 37.01%				Bob Levy†
Kings West		George Moody 5,899 59.61%		Frank Bezanson 3,114 31.47%		Ralph Lynch 883 8.92%				George Moody

South Shore

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
Electoral district	PC		Liberal		NDP		Independent		Incumbent
Argyle		Neil LeBlanc 3,798 64.14%		Rick Murphy 1,862 31.45%		Raymond Ethier 261 4.41%				Neil LeBlanc
Lunenburg Centre		Al Mosher 5,071 46.52%		Don Zwicker 4,024 36.92%		Muriel Maybee 1,805 16.56%				Maxine Cochran†
Lunenburg East		Richard P. Eldridge 2,352 38.91%		Jim Barkhouse 3,024 50.02%		Wanda Broome 623 10.31%		Malcolm Callaway 46 0.76%		Jim Barkhouse
Lunenburg West		Marie Dechman 3,511 42.34%		Jack Logan 3,243 39.11%		John Scott 1,539 18.56%				Mel Pickings†
Queens		John Leefe 4,099 56.04%		Dave Randall 2,228 30.46%		Margo Kleiker 988 13.51%				John Leefe
Shelburne		Tim Van Zoost 4,241 41.85%		Harold Huskilson 5,224 51.54%		Ralph Niessen 670 6.61%				Harold Huskilson
Yarmouth		Leroy Legere 4,479 44.86%		Fraser Mooney 4,138 41.44%		Brian Noble 1,368 13.70%				Alex McIntosh†

Fundy-Northeast

Electoral district	Candidates							Incumbent
Electoral district	PC		Liberal		NDP		Independent	Incumbent
Colchester North		Jack Coupar 4,097 44.85%		Ed Lorraine 4,260 46.63%		Penny Marchbank 778 8.52%			Jack Coupar
Colchester South		R. Colin Stewart 3,855 56.11%		Larry Thomas 2,462 35.83%		Julia A. Skipper 554 8.06%			R. Colin Stewart
Cumberland Centre		Scott Lockart 1,108 25.26%		Guy Brown 3,117 71.05%		Gary Thomas 162 3.69%			Guy Brown
Cumberland East		Roger Stuart Bacon 4,758 52.31%		Carolyn Drysdale 3,276 36.02%		Jim Mitchell 1,062 11.68%			Roger Stuart Bacon
Cumberland West		Gardner Hurley 2,306 44.31%		Ross Bragg 2,389 45.91%		Barbara Jack 509 9.78%			Gardner Hurley
Hants East		Cora Etter 3,977 41.60%		Jack Hawkins 4,502 47.09%		Richard Preeper 1,082 11.32%			Cora Etter
Truro—Bible Hill		Ron Giffin 4,479 50.43%		Kirby Eileen Grant 3,490 39.30%		Carol Martin 912 10.27%			Ron Giffin

Central Halifax

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
Electoral district	PC		Liberal		NDP		Independent		Incumbent
Halifax Bedford Basin		Joel Matheson 6,462 45.56%		Penny LaRocque 4,977 35.09%		John Dunsworth 2,746 19.36%				Joel Matheson
Halifax Chebucto		J. Clair Callaghan 3,214 35.72%		Penny Doherty 2,546 28.30%		Alexa McDonough 3,238 35.99%				Alexa McDonough
Halifax Citadel		Art Donahoe 3,283 35.11%		Jay Abbass 2,882 30.82%		Eileen O'Connell 3,057 32.70%		Frank J. Fawson 128 1.37%		Art Donahoe
Halifax Cornwallis		Terry Donahoe 4,195 39.91%		Liz Crocker 4,013 38.18%		Allan O'Brien 2,304 21.92%				Terry Donahoe
Halifax Needham		Randy Dewell 2,116 25.56%		Gerry O'Malley 3,469 41.91%		Maureen MacDonald 2,693 32.53%				Edmund L. Morris†

Suburban Halifax

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
Electoral district	PC		Liberal		NDP		Independent		Incumbent
Bedford-Musquodoboit Valley		Ken Streatch 5,740 51.49%		Geoff Regan 3,803 34.12%		Susan Coldwell 1,604 14.39%				Ken Streatch
Halifax Atlantic		John Buchanan 6,284 56.33%		Doug Adams 2,763 24.77%		Rene Quigley 1,976 17.71%		Arthur R. Canning 77 0.69% Emanuel Jannasch 55 0.49%		John Buchanan
Halifax-St. Margaret's		Jerry Lawrence 4,574 37.31%		Kevin Burke 4,061 33.13%		Bill Estabrooks 3,623 29.56%				Jerry Lawrence
Sackville		Dave Grace 4,774 31.78%		Bruce Stephen 4,816 32.06%		John Holm 5,430 36.15%				John Holm

Dartmouth/Cole Harbour/Eastern Shore

Electoral district	Candidates							Incumbent
Electoral district	PC		Liberal		NDP		Independent	Incumbent
Cole Harbour		David Nantes 6,280 47.58%		Alan Mitchell 4,892 37.06%		Flora Christie 2,027 15.36%			David Nantes
Dartmouth East		Jack Greenough 4,940 40.88%		Jim Smith 5,193 42.98%		Maureen Vine 1,950 16.14%			Jim Smith
Dartmouth North		Laird Stirling 3,389 41.64%		Sandy Jolly 3,510 43.13%		Brenda Thompson 1,239 15.22%			Laird Stirling
Dartmouth South		Roland J. Thornhill 4,449 47.33%		Allan Peters 2,987 31.78%		Joanne Lamey 1,963 20.89%			Roland J. Thornhill
Halifax Eastern Shore		Tom McInnis 5,762 54.01%		Eric Hill 3,810 35.71%		David Noseworthy 1,097 10.28%			Tom McInnis

Central Nova

Electoral district	Candidates							Incumbent
Electoral district	PC		Liberal		NDP		Independent	Incumbent
Antigonish		Bill Garvie 4,463 39.57%		Bill Gillis 6,004 53.24%		Bill Woodfine 811 7.19%			Bill Gillis
Guysborough		Chuck MacNeil 4,508 58.23%		Joe Sullivan 3,454 44.93%		Sarah Wilson 503 6.54%			Chuck MacNeil
Pictou Centre		Jack MacIsaac 6,566 57.80%		Bob Leahy 3,116 27.43%		Gerard Currie 1,677 14.76%			Jack MacIsaac
Pictou East		Donald Cameron 3,996 49.84%		Wayne Fraser 3,243 40.45%		Cecil MacNeil 778 9.70%			Donald Cameron
Pictou West		Donald P. McInnes 3,824 54.74%		John J. Henderson 2,278 32.61%		Geoff Moore 884 12.65%			Donald P. McInnes

Cape Breton

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
Electoral district	PC		Liberal		NDP		Independent		Incumbent
Cape Breton Centre		Harold MacDonald 2,210 27.50%		Wayne Connors 3,681 45.80%		John Wilson 2,146 26.70%				Mike Laffin†
Cape Breton East		Bruce Clark 4,014 35.39%		John MacEachern 5,739 50.60%		Terry McVarish 1,590 14.02%				Donnie MacLeod†
Cape Breton North		Brian Young 6,018 60.68%		Robert E. McGrath 2,042 20.59%		Gerald Yetman 1,858 18.73%				Brian Young
Cape Breton Nova		Joe Burke 1,060 14.05%		Dan MacRury 2,603 34.51%		Terry Crawley 686 9.09%		Paul MacEwan 3,194 42.34%		Paul MacEwan
Cape Breton South		Murdock Smith 3,461 27.78%		Vince MacLean 7,820 62.76%		Ed MacLeod 1,179 9.46%				Vince MacLean
Cape Breton—The Lakes		John Newell 3,282 35.52%		Bernie Boudreau 4,192 45.37%		Helen MacDonald 1,766 19.11%				John Newell
Cape Breton West		"Big" Donnie MacLeod 4,050 35.87%		Russell MacKinnon 6,133 54.31%		Con Mills 1,109 9.82%				"Big" Donnie MacLeod
Inverness North		Norman J. MacLean 2,865 36.16%		Charles MacArthur 3,666 46.27%		Ben Boucher 1,392 17.57%				Norman J. MacLean
Inverness South		Archie MacLachlan 866 15.87%		Danny Graham 2,185 40.03%		Martin Beaton 345 6.32%		Billy Joe MacLean 2,062 37.78%		Billy Joe MacLean
Richmond		Robert F. Martel 3,135 41.70%		Richie Mann 3,528 46.93%		Clair Rankin 855 11.37%				Vacant
Victoria		Fisher Hudson 2,076 39.40%		Kennie MacAskill 2,719 51.60%		Fraser Patterson 474 9.00%				Fisher Hudson

References

^ "John Dunsworth: The Candidate, A Neal Livingston Film".
^ Beltrame, Julian (September 2, 1988). "Buchanan will win again: poll". The Gazette. p. B1.
^ "Patronage charge stirs up election campaign in N.S.; Tories and Grits in dead heat: poll". The Ottawa Citizen. August 25, 1988. p. A16.
^ "Tories, Grits 'dead even' in N.S. poll". The Windsor Star. August 4, 1988. p. A6.
^ "N.S. voters back Grits over Tories, opinion poll finds". The Globe and Mail. October 16, 1987. p. A5.
^ Beltrame, Julian (October 31, 1986). "Premier cries as legislature ousts pal". The Ottawa Citizen. p. A1.
^ "Grits top N.S. poll". The Calgary Herald. August 1, 1986. p. B7.
^ "Election Returns 1988" (PDF). Elections Nova Scotia. Retrieved November 10, 2021.

[1] "John Dunsworth: The Candidate, A Neal Livingston Film".

[2] Beltrame, Julian (September 2, 1988). "Buchanan will win again: poll". The Gazette. p. B1.

[3] "Patronage charge stirs up election campaign in N.S.; Tories and Grits in dead heat: poll". The Ottawa Citizen. August 25, 1988. p. A16.

[4] "Tories, Grits 'dead even' in N.S. poll". The Windsor Star. August 4, 1988. p. A6.

[5] "N.S. voters back Grits over Tories, opinion poll finds". The Globe and Mail. October 16, 1987. p. A5.

[6] Beltrame, Julian (October 31, 1986). "Premier cries as legislature ousts pal". The Ottawa Citizen. p. A1.

[7] "Grits top N.S. poll". The Calgary Herald. August 1, 1986. p. B7.

[8] "Election Returns 1988" (PDF). Elections Nova Scotia. Retrieved November 10, 2021.

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v t e Elections and referendums in Nova Scotia
General elections	1867 1871 1874 1878 1882 1886 1890 1894 1897 1901 1906 1911 1916 1920 1925 1928 1933 1937 1941 1945 1949 1953 1956 1960 1963 1967 1970 1974 1978 1981 1984 1988 1993 1998 1999 2003 2006 2009 2013 2017 2021 2024
Municipal elections	1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Referendums	1929 2004
See also: List of Nova Scotia by-elections