1989 Newfoundland general election

1989 Newfoundland general election

←  1985 April 20, 1989 (1989-04-20) 1993  →
52 seats of the Newfoundland House of Assembly 27 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	80.6% ( 3.3 pp) [1]
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. ^[2] 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	[3]	41.6	52.1	6.3	—	4.1	622
	April 1989	[4]	43.9	50	6.1	—	—	1,305
Election 1985	November 6, 1984		36.7	48.6	14.4	0.3

Results

^[5]

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

St. John's suburbs

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

Avalon Peninsula

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

Eastern Newfoundland

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

Central Newfoundland

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

Southern Newfoundland

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

Western Newfoundland

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

Labrador

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

Notes

1. A judicial recount was held in this riding.

References

1. "Election Statistics 1989" (PDF). Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly . Retrieved March 31, 2025.
2. Newfoundland and Labrador Votes 2007: Bay of Islands. cbc.ca.
3. "Polls put Newfoundland Tories out in front". The Ottawa Citizen. April 17, 1989. p. A5.
4. "Newfoundland Tories still No. 1, but barely". The Windsor Star. April 17, 1989. p. A8.
5. "At a glance". The Vancouver Sun. Vancouver, B.C. April 21, 1989. p. A9.

Further reading

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