HALIFAX NEEDHAM (30)

Candidates:

Current MLA: Maureen MacDonald (NDP)

Riding Profile: This riding is home to the Halifax Dockyards, Fairview Cove Container Terminal, Northwood Manor and the Leeds St. campus of the Nova Scotia Community College. It also contains the original site of Africville, one of earliest black settlements in the province.

The riding contains a lot of public housing, apartments rented by students and thriving small businesses. There's a mix of seniors, families and young single people. The "north end," as it's known locally, is ethnically diverse, with stores and services on Gottinegn Street reflecting a variety of cultures, including MikMaq, African-Canadian, Middle Eastern and Nigerian.

In the 2003 redistribution, the riding added a corner of Halifax Citadel, the area between Cogswell Street in the north and Rainie Drive/Duke Street in the south.

Political History: This race features the same three candidates who ran against each other in the last provincial election. It's former Liberal premier Gerald Regan's old seat; he held it from 1967 until the defeat of his Liberal government in 1978. The PCs held the riding through the 1980s. The NDP has held it since 1998.

1999: NDP Maureen MacDonald won 45 per cent of the vote. She defeated PC Linda Carvery by 1,340 votes. LIB Mike Rogers was third with 25 per cent of the vote. 1998: NDP Maureen MacDonald defeats LIB Gerry O'Malley by 2,331 votes. 1993: LIB Gerry O'Malley won in 1988 and 1993.

Voter Turnout: 62 per cent in 1999.