1989 Newfoundland general election

1989 Newfoundland general election

April 20, 1989 (1989-04-20)
52 seats of the Newfoundland House of Assembly 27 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	80.6% ( 3.3 pp)
First party Second party Third party   LIB PC NDP Leader Clyde Wells Tom Rideout Cle Newhook Party Liberal Progressive Conservative New Democratic Leader's seat Windsor-Buchans Ran in Humber East (lost) Baie Verte-Springdale Ran in St. John's East Extern (lost) Last election 15 36 1 Seats won 31 21 0 Seat change 16 15 1 Popular vote 137,271 138,609 12,929 Percentage 47.2% 47.6% 4.4% Swing 10.5pp 1.0pp 10.0pp
Premier before election Tom Rideout Progressive Conservative Premier after election Clyde Wells Liberal

The 1989 Newfoundland general election was held on April 20, 1989 to elect members of the 41st General Assembly of Newfoundland. It was won by the Liberal party despite polling fewer votes than the Conservatives.

Unusually, however, Liberal leader Clyde Wells was defeated by Lynn Verge in his own riding of Humber East despite having led his party to victory. Consequently, a member of his caucus, Eddie Joyce, resigned shortly after the election, and Wells was acclaimed to office in the riding of Bay of Islands. Seven years later, Verge was the leader of the Progressive Conservatives during the 1996 election, and she also lost Humber East in the election, though her party did not win that election.

Opinion polls

Evolution of voting intentions at provincial level

Polling firm	Last day of survey	Source	LPNL	PCNL	NLNDP	Other	ME	Sample
Election 1989	April 20, 1989		47.2	47.6	4.4	0.8
Omnifacts	April 1989		41.6	52.1	6.3	—	4.1	622
	April 1989		43.9	50	6.1	—	—	1,305
Election 1985	November 6, 1984		36.7	48.6	14.4	0.3

Results

Summary of the House of Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador election results

Party		Party leader	Candidates	Seats				Popular vote
				1985	Dissol.	1989	Change	#	%	% Change
	Liberal	Clyde Wells	52	15	14	31	+16	137,271	47.2	+10.5
	Progressive Conservative	Tom Rideout	52	36	34	21	−15	138,609	47.6	–1.0
	New Democratic	Cle Newhook	36	1	2	0	−1	12,929	4.4	–10.0
	Independents		5	0	0	0	0	2,138	0.8	+0.5
	Vacant				2
Total			145	52	52	52	-	291,785	100	-

Results by district

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

St. John's

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		NDP
Kilbride 77.25% turnout		Gerry Glavine 2,960 42.09%		Robert Aylward 3,452 49.08%		Kevin James 621 8.83%		Robert Aylward
Pleasantville 74.87% turnout		Walter Noel 3,284 47.12%		Stephen Stafford 2,972 42.65%		Dennis MacKay 713 10.23%		Jerome Dinn†
St. John's Centre 79.52% turnout		Hubert Kitchen 2,967 46.14%		Patrick McNicholas 2,838 44.14%		Vicky Silk 625 9.72%		Patrick McNicholas
St. John's East 83.00% turnout		Lynette Billard 1,212 21.09%		Shannie Duff 2,397 41.72%		Gene Long 2,137 37.19%		Gene Long
St. John's North 69.73% turnout		Phil Warren 2,705 52.66%		Tom Osborne 1,937 37.71%		Dorothy Inglis 495 9.63%		John Carter†
St. John's South 71.49% turnout		Tom Murphy 2,107 43.08%		Douglas Atkinson 2,105 43.04%		Linda Hyde 679 13.88%		John Collins†
St. John's West 72.52% turnout		Rex Gibbons 3,389 53.35%		Harold Barrett 2,583 40.67%		Larry Power 380 5.98%		Harold Barrett
Waterford-Kenmount 79.59% turnout		Eric Gullage 3,947 53.06%		Ralph Tucker 3,188 42.85%		Wayne James 304 4.09%		Eric Gullage

St. John's suburbs

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		NDP		Other
Conception Bay South 91.44% turnout		Pat Cowan 3,107 53.50%		John Butt 2,580 44.42%		Edgar Russell 121 2.08%				John Butt
Mount Pearl 86.13% turnout		Gordon Seabright 3,834 46.27%		Neil Windsor 4,273 51.57%		Leo Thistle 179 2.16%				Neil Windsor
Mount Scio-Bell Island 74.89% turnout		Jim Walsh 3,143 44.73%		Myrle Vokey 3,107 44.22%		Kevin Walsh 425 6.05%		Josiah Harvey (Independent) 351 5.00%		Leo Barry†
St. John's East Extern 85.57% turnout		John O'Brien 2,430 31.65%		Kevin Parsons 3,750 48.84%		Cle Newhook 1,498 19.51%				Kevin Parsons

Avalon Peninsula

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		NDP		Other
Carbonear 90.70% turnout		Art Reid 3,581 50.94%		Milton Peach 3,387 48.18%				Nicholas Murray (Independent) 62 0.88%		Milton Peach
Ferryland 89.25% turnout		Tom Carey 1,711 35.68%		Charlie Power 2,954 61.61%		Aiden Coady 130 2.71%				Charlie Power
Harbour Grace 85.79% turnout		John Crane 3,213 56.96%		Joe Gregory 2,428 43.04%						Haig Young†
Harbour Main 78.65% turnout		Rod Fowler 1,485 23.62%		Norman Doyle 4,123 65.59%		Gus Flannigan 678 10.79%				Norman Doyle
Placentia 83.95% turnout		William Hogan 2,702 58.23%		William Patterson 1,760 37.93%		Cletus Canning 178 3.84%				William Patterson
Port de Grave 87.77% turnout		John Efford 4,797 69.43%		Lewis Gosse 2,050 29.67%		Wayne Lucas 62 0.90%				John Efford
St. Mary's-The Capes 79.95% turnout		Don O'Keefe 913 22.13%		Loyola Hearn 3,100 75.13%		Ian Penney 113 2.74%				Loyola Hearn
Trinity-Bay de Verde 81.39% turnout		Lloyd Snow 2,768 54.92%		Wayne Quinlan 1,999 39.66%		Bert Pitcher 189 3.75%		Bren Howard (Independent) 84 1.67%		James Reid†

Eastern Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		NDP
Bellevue 77.31% turnout		Percy Barrett 3,842 60.91%		Bruce Stagg 2,233 35.40%		Harvey Thistle 233 3.69%		Wilson Callan†
Bonavista North 88.06% turnout		Tom Lush 3,470 58.44%		Eli Cross 2,351 39.59%		Ingwald Feltham 117 1.97%		Tom Lush
Bonavista South 67.54% turnout		Aubrey Gover 1,952 47.12%		Roger Fitzgerald 1,932 46.63%		Rex Sheppard 259 6.25%		Jim Morgan†
Fogo 84.85% turnout		Beaton Tulk 2,872 49.19%		Sam Winsor 2,966 50.81%				Beaton Tulk
Terra Nova 78.52% turnout		Ray Goulding 2,370 44.23%		Glen Greening 2.920 54.50%		Randy Miller 68 1.27%		Glen Greening
Trinity North 79.02% turnout		Wendell Moore 2,506 41.35%		Charlie Brett 3,431 56.61%		Sam Kelly 124 2.04%		Charlie Brett

Central Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		NDP
Baie Verte-White Bay 84.36% turnout		Joe Gedge 879 17.62%		Tom Rideout 4,109 82.38%				Tom Rideout
Exploits 73.35% turnout		Roger Grimes 2,850 49.36%		Paul Cooper 2,801 48.51%		Reg Hemeon 123 2.13%		Hugh Twomey†
Gander 76.20% turnout		Winston Baker 3,460 60.66%		Agnes Richard 2,029 35.57%		Claude Elliott 215 3.77%		Winston Baker
Grand Falls 85.41% turnout		Jim Hornell 1,841 35.13%		Len Simms 3,400 64.87%				Len Simms
Green Bay 72.90% turnout		Maurice Budgell 2,128 41.15%		Alvin Hewlett 3,043 58.85%				Brian Peckford†
Lewisporte 73.98% turnout		Melvin Penney 3,148 51.53%		Anne Picco 2,836 46.42%		Berkley Rose 125 2.05%		James Russell†
Twillingate 79.81% turnout		Walter Carter 2,353 51.83%		Ida Reid 2,133 46.98%		John Lewis 54 1.19%		Walter Carter
Windsor-Buchans 85.50% turnout		Graham Flight 2,336 50.69%		Ray Hunter 2,164 46.96%		Bernard Woodfine 108 2.35%		Clyde Wells‡

Southern Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		NDP
Burgeo-Bay d'Espoir 82.39% turnout		Dave Gilbert 2,427 51.80%		Dave Brenton 2,618 33.94%				Dave Gilbert
Burin-Placentia West 85.82% turnout		Dave Brenton 2,618 33.94%		Glenn Tobin 5,095 66.06%				Glenn Tobin
Fortune-Hermitage 75.70% turnout		Nathan Cutler 1,872 39.84%		Oliver Langdon 2,827 60.16%				Roger Simmons†
Grand Bank 75.82% turnout		Graham Wood 1,811 31.45%		Bill Matthews 3,948 68.55%				Bill Matthews
La Poile 70.89% turnout		Bill Ramsay 2,413 48.77%		Cal Mitchell 1,757 35.52%		Stephen MacKenzie 777 15.71%		Cal Mitchell

Western Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		Other
Bay of Islands 81.17% turnout		Eddie Joyce 3,320 54.32%		Leonard Gillingham 1,418 23.20%		Myles Griffin (Independent) 789 12.91%		Ted Blanchard†
						Trevor Bennett (Independent) 426 6.97%
						Ken Gould (NDP) 159 2.60%
Humber East 88.75% turnout		Clyde Wells 3,515 48.14%		Lynn Verge 3,658 50.10%		Jim McManamy (NDP) 129 1.76%		Lynn Verge
Humber Valley 79.95% turnout		Gary Gale 2,125 44.16%		Rick Woodford 2,687 55.84%				Rick Woodford
Humber West 87.30% turnout		Paul Dicks 3,703 61.27%		Jeannette Christopher 2,341 38.73%				Ray Baird†
Port au Port 91.91% turnout		Mark Felix 2,192 47.62%		Jim Hodder 2,313 50.25%		Leo Foley (NDP) 98 2.13%		Jim Hodder
St. Barbe 83.62% turnout		Chuck Furey 3,573 50.96%		Joseph Kennedy 3,439 49.04%				Chuck Furey
St. George's 77.91% turnout		Larry Short 2,647 55.52%		Wayne Wheeler 2,121 44.48%				Ron Dawe†
Stephenville 87.39% turnout		Kevin Aylward 2,395 58.49%		Wayne Morrison 1,500 36.63%		Wade Morris (NDP) 200 4.88%		Kevin Aylward
Strait of Belle Isle 70.53% turnout		Chris Decker 3,284 57.99%		Francis Reardon 1,953 34.49%		Edward Hollahan (Independent) 426 7.52%		Chris Decker

Labrador

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		NDP
Eagle River 80.35% turnout		Danny Dumaresque 1,527 59.95%		Reginald Hancock 1,020 40.05%				Eugene Hiscock†
Menihek 87.02% turnout		Bill Kelly 2,291 40.53%		Alec Snow 3,004 53.15%		Nelson Larson 357 6.32%		Peter Fenwick†
Naskaupi 90.42% turnout		Jim Kelland 2,882 68.90%		Ian Strachan 1,118 26.73%		Dorothy King 183 4.37%		Jim Kelland
Torngat Mountains 90.40% turnout		Mervin Linstead 414 31.65%		Garfield Warren 821 62.77%		Bill Wheaton 73 5.58%		Garfield Warren

Further reading

• Leyton-Brown, David, ed. (1995). Canadian Annual Review of Politics and Public Affairs, 1989. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 9780802007148.