1966 Newfoundland general election

1966 Newfoundland general election

September 8, 1966
42 seats to the 34th General Assembly of Newfoundland 22 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	61.8% ( 3.3 pp)
First party Second party   PC Leader Joey Smallwood Noel Murphy Party Liberal Progressive Conservative Leader since 1949 1966 Leader's seat Humber West Humber East Last election 34 seats, 58.7% 7 seats, 36.6% Seats won 39 3 Seat change 5 4 Popular vote 91,613 50,316 Percentage 61.8% 34.0% Swing 3.1pp 2.6pp
Premier before election Joey Smallwood Liberal Premier after election Joey Smallwood Liberal

The 1966 Newfoundland general election was held on 8 September 1966 to elect members of the 34th General Assembly of Newfoundland. It was won by the Liberal party.

Results

	Party	Leader	1962	Seats won	% change	Popular vote	(%)
	Liberal	Joey Smallwood	34	39	+15%	91,613	61.8%
	Progressive Conservative	Noel Murphy	7	3	-57%	50,316	34.0%
	New Democratic	Calvin Normore	0	0	0%	2,725	1.8%
	Other		1	0	-100%	3,548	2.4%
Totals			42	42	-	149,371	100%

Results by district

• Names in boldface type represent party leaders.
• † indicates that the incumbent did not run again.
• ‡ indicates that the incumbent ran in a different district.

St. John's

Electoral district	Candidates				Incumbent
	Liberal		PC
St. John's Centre 66.15% turnout		Denis Galway 1,773 39.58%		Anthony Murphy 2,706 60.42%		Anthony Murphy
St. John's East 71.61% turnout		Kevin O'Regan 1,373 37.13%		Gerry Ottenheimer 2,325 62.87%		James Greene†
St. John's East Extern 70.78% turnout		John Murphy 3,327 47.84%		Tom Hickey 3,627 52.16%		William Browne†
St. John's North 66.97% turnout		Nathaniel Noel 4,586 57.33%		Mervyn Russell 3,414 42.67%		Geoffrey Carnell†
St. John's South 73.65% turnout		John Nolan 4,166 54.71%		Rex Renouf 3,448 45.29%		Rex Renouf
St. John's West 69.20% turnout		John Crosbie 4,054 57.63%		Harvey Cole 2,980 42.37%		William Adams†

Conception Bay

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		Other
Bay de Verde 63.70% turnout		William Saunders 1,363 66.61%		Walter Hudson 395 19.31%		Alvin Clarke (Independent) 288 14.08%		William Saunders
Bell Island 57.09% turnout		Steve Neary 1,761 75.55%		Herbert Buckingham 423 18.15%		Joseph Gendreau (Independent) 147 6.31%		Steve Neary
Carbonear 65.80% turnout		George Clarke 1,591 64.02%		Joseph Noel 555 22.33%		Elmer Vaters (Independent) 339 13.64%		George Clarke
Harbour Grace 61.49% turnout		Alec Moores 2,296 75.38%		Harold Osborne 750 24.62%				Claude Sheppard†
Harbour Main 66.37% turnout		Philip Lewis 2,712 30.83%		Gordon Dawe 2,090 23.74%		James Hickey (Independent) 534 6.07%		Philip Lewis
		John Mahoney 2,342 26.61%		John Carroll 1,120 12.73%				Clifton Joy†
Port de Grave 54.23% turnout		Eric Dawe 1,696 66.64%		Lloyd Stevens 849 33.36%				Eric Dawe

Avalon Peninsula

Electoral district	Candidates				Incumbent
	Liberal		PC
Ferryland 68.85% turnout		Aidan Maloney 1,905 69.70%		Thomas Greene 828 30.30%		Myles Murray†
Placentia East 72.22% turnout		Alain Frecker 2,037 62.47%		William Patterson 1,224 37.53%		Alain Frecker
St. Mary's 71.32% turnout		James M. McGrath 1,229 67.49%		John Halley 592 32.51%		James M. McGrath
Trinity South 53.07% turnout		Uriah Strickland 1,840 51.80%		John Carter 1,712 48.20%		Uriah Strickland

Eastern Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		Other
Bonavista North 52.87% turnout		Beaton Abbott 2,932 73.65%		John Pinsent 834 20.95%		Hubert Granter (NDP) 215 5.40%		Joey Smallwood‡ (ran in Humber West)
Bonavista South 45.36% turnout		Rossy Barbour 2,161 63.71%		William Moss 1,231 36.29%				Rossy Barbour
Fogo 48.76% turnout		Eric Jones 2,150 73.33%		Artie Willis 782 26.67%				Edward Spencer†
Trinity North 46.72% turnout		Maxwell Lane 2,215 62.93%		Robert Barton 638 18.13%		Sam Drover (Independent) 667 18.95%		Arthur Mifflin†

Central Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates				Incumbent
	Liberal		PC
Gander 66.71% turnout		Charles Granger 3,180 61.13%		Harold Collins 2,022 38.87%		Beaton Abbott‡ (ran in Bonavista North)
Grand Falls 75.57% turnout		Frederick W. Rowe 3,642 55.31%		Ambrose Peddle 2,943 44.69%		Ambrose Peddle
Green Bay 65.48% turnout		William Smallwood 2,496 71.17%		Rupert Short 1,011 28.83%		William Smallwood
Lewisporte 54.95% turnout		Harold Starkes 2,287 73.85%		Douglas Hayward 810 26.15%		Harold Starkes
Twillingate		Leslie Curtis Won by acclamation				Leslie Curtis
White Bay South 63.24% turnout		Bill Rowe 2,014 79.95%		Cyril Pelley 505 20.05%		Frederick W. Rowe‡ (ran in Grand Falls)

Southern Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates				Incumbent
	Liberal		PC
Burgeo-La Poile 58.16% turnout		Walter Hodder 2,331 68.68%		Allan Evans 1,063 31.32%		Walter Hodder
Burin 56.56% turnout		Alex Hickman 2,744 79.01%		Scott Bradley 729 20.99%		Eric Jones‡ (ran in Fogo)
Fortune Bay		H.R.V. Earle Won by acclamation				H.R.V. Earle
Hermitage		Abel Wornell Won by acclamation				Abel Wornell
Placentia West 62.59% turnout		Patrick Canning 2,367 74.34%		Joseph Cheeseman 817 25.66%		Patrick Canning

Western Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		Other
Humber East 74.70% turnout		Clyde Wells 3,652 52.74%		Noel Murphy 3,273 47.26%				Noel Murphy
Humber West 67.53% turnout		Joey Smallwood 4,431 67.21%				Calvin Normore (NDP) 2,162 32.79%		Charles Ballam†
Port au Port 76.87% turnout		William Callahan 2,454 57.61%		Berkley Evans 948 22.25%		Michael Harper (Independent) 858 20.14%		Stephen Smith†
St. Barbe North 63.92% turnout		James Chalker 1,139 79.48%		Gerald Hynes 294 20.52%				James Chalker
St. Barbe South 66.93% turnout		Gerald Myrden 1,511 64.68%		Andrew Swimm 825 35.32%				Vacant
St. George's 72.61% turnout		William Keough 1,736 51.24%		Prime Power 937 27.66%		Fred Wells (Independent) 715 21.10%		William Keough
White Bay North 61.99% turnout		Edward Roberts 2,165 84.94%		Anita Sulley 384 15.06%				Walter Carter†

Labrador

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		NDP
Labrador North 57.38% turnout		Earl Winsor 1,333 71.25%		Arthur Hale 538 28.75%				Earl Winsor
Labrador South 58.99% turnout		Gerald Hill 1,129 90.39%		Leace Critch 120 9.61%				Gerald Hill
Labrador West 64.10% turnout		Tom Burgess 1,493 61.82%		Charles Devine 574 23.77%		Albert McGrath 348 14.41%		Charles Devine

Further reading

• Riggs, Bert (1981). "General Election #34: September 8, 1966". Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, volume 1. St. John's: Harry Cuff Publications Ltd. Retrieved April 6, 2025.