1944 Quebec general election

The Quebec general election of 1944 was held on August 8, 1944 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. The Union Nationale, led by former premier Maurice Duplessis, defeated the incumbent Quebec Liberal Party, led by Adélard Godbout. This was the first Quebec provincial election in which women were allowed to vote, having been granted suffrage at the provincial level in 1940 and at the federal level in 1919.

This election marked Duplessis's comeback after having defeated Godbout in the 1936 election and having lost to him in the 1939 election. Duplessis won another three elections in a row, for a total of five terms of office (four consecutive), before dying in office in 1959.

In this wartime election, Godbout's support for Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King in the Conscription Crisis of 1944 may have contributed to his defeat.

The Bloc Populaire won four seats on an anti-conscription platform. The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (predecessor of the New Democratic Party) won one seat. Party member David Côté was elected to the legislature, but in July 1945, he decided to sit as an independent.

Results

Party		Party leader	# of candidates	Seats			Popular Vote
				1939	Elected	% Change	#	%	% Change
	Union Nationale	Maurice Duplessis	90	15	48	+220%		38.02%	-1.1%
	Liberal	Adélard Godbout	91	70	37	-47.1%		39.35%	-14.7%
	Bloc populaire	André Laurendeau	80	*	4	*		14.40%	*	Co-operative Commonwealth	Romuald-Joseph Lamoureux	25	0	1	*		2.56%	*	Other		47	1	1			5.67%	+3.3%
Total				86	91	+5.8%		100%

Note:

* Information on party's actions in previous election not available.

See also

• List of Quebec premiers
• Politics of Quebec
• Timeline of Quebec history
• List of Quebec political parties
• 22nd Legislative Assembly of Quebec