The governing Coalition Avenir Québec has passed its first electoral test since winning the Oct. 1 provincial vote, easily capturing the riding of Roberval left vacant by former Liberal premier Philippe Couillard.
READ MORE: Quebec byelection set for Roberval after Philippe Couillard’s resignation
With three-quarters of the votes counted in a byelection Monday, Coalition candidate Nancy Guillemette, director of a local mental-health organization, was well ahead with more than 50 per cent of the total.
Premier François Legault joined Guillemette on stage to celebrate the win. On Twitter he wrote, “Thanks to this victory, we now have 75 elected members. Not bad for a new party!”
Couillard had won the riding in Quebec’s Lac-Saint-Jean region by a wide margin Oct. 1, taking 42 per cent of the votes compared with 24 per cent for the second-place CAQ candidate, Denise Trudel.
The seat has been empty since Couillard quit politics days after his party’s crushing loss.
With the win, the Coalition Avenir Québec, founded by Legault in 2011, has 75 seats in the 125-seat legislature. It is followed by the Liberals at 29 and the Parti Québécois and Québec solidaire at 10 each. There is one Independent member.
READ MORE: Quebec Liberal Party discusses renewal following defeat
PQ candidate Thomas Gaudreault was in second place Monday with about 18 per cent of the votes, and Liberal William Laroche had 15 per cent. Québec solidaire candidate Luc-Antoine Cauchon was fourth with about 12 per cent, and three other candidates split the remainder.
Just over a third of eligible voters cast a ballot, according to preliminary figures from Elections Quebec.
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