Marois leaps to early win in Charlevoix
Last Updated: Monday, December 8, 2008 | 8:46 PM ET
CBC News
Parti Québécois Leader Pauline Marois cruised to victory in her riding of Charlevoix, easily defeating her nearest rival, CBC has projected.
Marois leads with 54 per cent, a margin of 23 per cent over Liberal Jean Luc Simard. Action Démocratique du Québec candidate Mark Cardwell came in third with 10 per cent support, a sharp drop off in support for the official opposition party that came second in the 2007 general election and Marois's 2007 byelection victory.
Green Party candidate David Turcotte held about one per cent of the vote. Québec Solidaire's André Jacob scored just more than one per cent of the vote.
The PQ leader's easy re-election in the riding northeast of Quebec City was only marginally more difficult than her 4,255-vote margin of victory in her Sept. 24, 2007 byelection victory. However, the Liberals opted not to field a candidate in Marois's byelection, offering her an easier path back to the national assembly.
Charlevoix was once held by the Liberal Party from 1962 to 1994, but it has rested safely with the PQ for the last 15 years.
The PQ leader owns a cabin in the Charlevoix riding but is originally from Quebec City.
Marois first sat in the legislature in 1981, when she was elected in La Peltrie riding outside Quebec City. In 1985, she was defeated, but then was elected in 1989 in the riding of Taillon.
