1966 Newfoundland general election

1966 Newfoundland general election

←  1962 September 8, 1966 1971  →
42 seats to the 34th General Assembly of Newfoundland 22 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	61.8% ( 3.3 pp) [1]
First party Second party   PC Leader Joey Smallwood Noel Murphy Party Liberal Progressive Conservative Leader since 1949 1966 Leader's seat Humber West [a] Humber East [b] 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 [c]
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

Notes

1. Not the incumbent, but stood in this seat and won
2. Was defeated for re-election in this seat
3. William Smith had been elected in 1962, but he had died on August 4, 1965.

References

1. "Report on Provincial General Election, 1966". The Newfoundland Gazette. November 8, 1966. Retrieved April 7, 2025.

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.