The 1962 Quebec general election was held on November 14, 1962, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. The incumbent Quebec Liberal Party, led by Jean Lesage, was re-elected, defeating the (UN) led by Daniel Johnson, Sr.
In an unusual move, the election was called just two years after the previous 1960 general election. Lesage sought a mandate for the nationalization of the electrical power industry, using the slogan , and declaring it to be the single issue on which he was ready to stake his political career.
A few days before the election, the 's chief organizer, André Lagarde, was arrested for fraud. The Liberals claimed this was proof of lingering corruption dating from the Maurice Duplessis era, but the UN cried foul. While the courts eventually acquitted Lagarde after the election, the incident may well have contributed to the UN's defeat.
The Liberal Party won an increased number of seats and a higher percentage of the popular vote compared to the previous election. Their majority government allowed them to pursue their campaign promise of electricity nationalization, spearheaded by future founder René Lévesque, who at the time served as a cabinet minister in the Lesage government.
, a new group founded by Hertel Larocque (a former secretary of Camillien Houde), fielded 11 candidates in the election but failed to gather a significant number of votes. Johnson opted not to have the UN join forces with it, keeping in mind the failure the Liberals had had in attempting the same manoeuvre with the in 1956. However, Social Credit was still a force to reckon with even while not campaigning on the provincial scene, and Johnson did not hesitate to use its vocabulary in his speeches while on the campaign trail.
+ Riding contests, by number of candidates (1960) CandidatesLibUNIndI-LibI-UNAPConCommTotal267 67 134324 24 6 7 1 8 1 1 7242 2 2 2 852 2 3 1 1 1 10Total95 95 9 10 2 11 1 1 224
Results
! colspan=2 rowspan=2 | Political party ! rowspan=2 | Party leader ! colspan=4 | MPPs ! colspan=4 | Votes |- ! Candidates !1960 !1962 !± !# ! ± !% ! ± (pp)
|style="text-align:left;"|Jean Lesage | 95 || 52 || 63 || 11 || 1,205,253 || 128,118 || 56.40% || 5.02
|style="text-align:left;"|Daniel Johnson, Sr. | 95 || 42 || 31 || 11 || 900,817 || 76,490 || 42.15% || 4.46
| || 9 || 1 || 1 || || 13,581 || 8,606 || 0.64% || 0.42 |- |rowspan="6" | |style="text-align:left;" colspan="10"|Other candidates |- |colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | | 10 || || || || 11,209 || 3,001 || 0.52% || 0.13 |- |colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | | 1 || || || || 4,255 || 4,255 || 0.20% || New |- |colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | | 11 || || || || 1,445 || 1,445 || 0.07% || New |- |colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | | 2 || || || || 336 || 10,195 || 0.02% || 0.48 |- |colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | | 1 || || || || 71 || 465 || 0.00% || 0.03 |- ! colspan="3" style="text-align:left;" | Total |224||95 ! " colspan="2"|95 ! " colspan="2"|2,136,967 ! " colspan="2"| 100% |- | colspan="7" style="text-align:left;" | Rejected ballots | 29,509 | 4,012 | colspan="2"| |- | colspan="7" style="text-align:left;" | Voter turnout | 2,166,476 | 36,369 | 79.59 | 2.07 |- | colspan="7" style="text-align:left;" | Registered electors | 2,721,933 | 113,494 | colspan="2"|
Vote and seat summaries
+ Seats and popular vote by party Party Seats Votes Change (pp)
Synopsis of results
+ Results by riding - 1962 Quebec general election Riding Winning party Turnoutincluding spoilt ballots VotesName 1960Party Votes Share Margin#Margin% Lib UN Total Abitibi-Est Lib Lib 14,892 51.93% 1,109 3.87% 85.24% 14,892 13,783 – – – – 28,675 Abitibi-Ouest Lib Lib 6,732 56.97% 1,648 13.95% 88.52% 6,732 5,084 – – – – 11,816 Argenteuil UN UN 7,922 54.57% 2,610 17.98% 86.22% 5,312 7,922 – 1,284 – – 14,518 Arthabaska Lib Lib 10,988 53.54% 1,453 7.08% 91.70% 10,988 9,535 – – – – 20,523 Bagot UN UN 5,336 55.11% 989 10.21% 92.36% 4,347 5,336 – – – – 9,683 Beauce Lib UN 12,583 51.96% 947 3.91% 87.25% 11,636 12,583 – – – – 24,219 Beauharnois UN Lib 11,884 51.72% 791 3.44% 90.19% 11,884 11,093 – – – – 22,977 Bellechasse Lib UN 5,176 51.35% 273 2.71% 80.81% 4,903 5,176 – – – – 10,079 Berthier UN Lib 5,938 50.05% 110 0.93% 85.57% 5,938 5,828 – – 98 – 11,864 Bonaventure Lib Lib 9,525 57.28% 2,421 14.56% 85.26% 9,525 7,104 – – – – 16,629 Bourget Lib Lib 42,906 58.74% 17,728 24.27% 73.21% 42,906 25,178 4,807 – 153 – 73,044 Brome Lib Lib 3,417 55.82% 713 11.65% 81.43% 3,417 2,704 – – – – 6,121 Chambly Lib Lib 36,290 63.83% 17,094 30.07% 76.89% 36,290 19,196 778 353 – 235 56,852 Champlain UN UN 12,346 52.74% 1,282 5.48% 90.97% 11,064 12,346 – – – – 23,410 Charlevoix UN Lib 6,942 52.23% 594 4.47% 87.21% 6,942 6,348 – – – – 13,290 Châteauguay UN Lib 8,727 54.83% 1,538 9.66% 84.04% 8,727 7,189 – – – – 15,916 Chicoutimi UN UN 16,910 50.29% 192 0.57% 88.05% 16,718 16,910 – – – – 33,628 Compton UN UN 5,568 54.45% 1,014 9.92% 87.30% 4,554 5,568 – – 104 – 10,226 Deux-Montagnes Lib Lib 8,518 57.31% 2,174 14.63% 86.94% 8,518 6,344 – – – – 14,862 Dorchester UN UN 7,818 53.64% 1,060 7.27% 83.78% 6,758 7,818 – – – – 14,576 Drummond Lib Lib 14,621 57.17% 3,668 14.34% 90.97% 14,621 10,953 – – – – 25,574 Duplessis Lib Lib 7,345 59.84% 2,416 19.68% 79.19% 7,345 4,929 – – – – 12,274 Frontenac UN UN 6,217 52.46% 582 4.91% 87.92% 5,635 6,217 – – – – 11,852 Gaspé-Nord Lib UN 5,183 51.75% 444 4.43% 88.07% 4,739 5,183 93 – – – 10,015 Gaspé-Sud UN Lib 7,197 50.40% 113 0.79% 89.09% 7,197 7,084 – – – – 14,281 Gatineau UN Lib 10,289 54.57% 1,725 9.15% 77.83% 10,289 8,564 – – – – 18,853 Hull Lib Lib 14,854 63.36% 6,266 26.73% 78.05% 14,854 8,588 – – – – 23,442 Huntingdon UN UN 3,449 54.14% 528 8.29% 85.15% 2,921 3,449 – – – – 6,370 Iberville Lib Lib 4,452 55.87% 936 11.75% 91.07% 4,452 3,516 – – – – 7,968 Îles-de-la-Madeleine UN Lib 2,674 51.86% 192 3.72% 92.10% 2,674 2,482 – – – – 5,156 Jacques-Cartier Lib Lib 69,199 77.74% 49,388 55.49% 72.46% 69,199 19,811 – – – – 89,010 Joliette UN UN 10,236 52.96% 5,037 26.06% 85.90% 5,199 10,236 – 3,891 – – 19,326 Jonquière-Kénogami Lib Lib 16,100 60.38% 5,536 20.76% 86.48% 16,100 10,564 – – – – 26,664 Kamouraska UN Lib 5,453 50.19% 41 0.38% 82.02% 5,453 5,412 – – – – 10,865 L'Assomption Lib Lib 9,680 55.06% 1,984 11.29% 84.49% 9,680 7,696 – 70 134 – 17,580 L'Islet Lib UN 5,239 53.25% 639 6.49% 83.90% 4,600 5,239 – – – – 9,839 Labelle UN UN 6,005 57.11% 1,695 16.12% 84.51% 4,310 6,005 199 – – – 10,514 Lac-Saint-Jean Lib Lib 9,171 52.63% 915 5.25% 89.25% 9,171 8,256 – – – – 17,427 Laval Lib Lib 67,316 66.31% 33,807 33.30% 76.57% 67,316 33,509 – 461 237 – 101,523 Laviolette UN UN 11,315 53.63% 1,533 7.27% 85.24% 9,782 11,315 – – – – 21,097 Lévis Lib Lib 13,434 54.43% 2,346 9.51% 88.47% 13,434 11,088 158 – – – 24,680 Lotbinière UN UN 6,393 53.56% 849 7.11% 88.62% 5,544 6,393 – – – – 11,937 Maisonneuve UN Lib 28,814 58.89% 8,702 17.79% 71.75% 28,814 20,112 – – – – 48,926 Maskinongé UN UN 5,312 53.71% 734 7.42% 91.18% 4,578 5,312 – – – – 9,890 Matane Lib Lib 8,204 50.40% 130 0.80% 83.20% 8,204 8,074 – – – – 16,278 Matapédia Lib Lib 6,111 51.05% 252 2.11% 84.29% 6,111 5,859 – – – – 11,970 Mégantic Lib Lib 13,182 55.05% 2,420 10.11% 88.95% 13,182 10,762 – – – – 23,944 Missisquoi UN UN 7,630 57.38% 1,962 14.75% 84.84% 5,668 7,630 – – – – 13,298 Montcalm UN Lib 4,662 55.41% 911 10.83% 88.54% 4,662 3,751 – – – – 8,413 Montmagny Lib UN 5,747 50.49% 111 0.98% 86.57% 5,636 5,747 – – – – 11,383 Montmorency UN UN 5,717 50.67% 398 3.53% 88.32% 5,319 5,717 – – 247 – 11,283 Montréal–Jeanne-Mance UN Lib 40,899 59.64% 13,740 20.04% 68.18% 40,899 27,159 519 – – – 68,577 Montréal-Laurier Lib Lib 15,837 58.16% 4,563 16.76% 76.41% 15,837 11,274 – – 117 – 27,228 Montréal-Mercier UN Lib 16,992 54.07% 3,322 10.57% 75.56% 16,992 13,670 – 764 – – 31,426 Montréal–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce Lib Lib 37,100 78.55% 29,357 62.15% 59.89% 37,100 7,743 – 2,389 – – 47,232 Montréal-Outremont Lib Lib 36,076 77.63% 26,647 57.34% 60.34% 36,076 9,429 969 – – – 46,474 Montréal–Saint-Henri Lib Lib 17,548 53.04% 2,540 7.68% 70.28% 17,548 15,008 – 531 – – 33,087 Montréal–Saint-Jacques UN UN 7,854 52.10% 705 4.68% 65.65% 7,149 7,854 – – – 71 15,074 Montréal–Saint-Louis Lib Lib 14,082 58.15% 3,949 16.31% 60.95% 14,082 10,133 – – – – 24,215 Montréal–Sainte-Anne Ind Ind 6,058 45.84% 746 5.65% 57.89% 5,312 1,845 6,058 – – – 13,215 Montréal–Sainte-Marie UN UN 12,977 52.47% 1,321 5.34% 67.43% 11,656 12,977 – – – 101 24,734 Montréal-Verdun Lib Lib 21,208 65.98% 10,274 31.96% 72.80% 21,208 10,934 – – – – 32,142 Napierville-Laprairie UN Lib 9,865 56.53% 2,278 13.05% 86.33% 9,865 7,587 – – – – 17,452 Nicolet UN Lib 7,209 51.74% 484 3.47% 85.96% 7,209 6,725 – – – – 13,934 Papineau UN UN 12,304 55.28% 2,351 10.56% 85.66% 9,953 12,304 – – – – 22,257 Pontiac UN UN 5,108 59.81% 1,675 19.61% 75.86% 3,433 5,108 – – – – 8,541 Portneuf Lib Lib 11,059 51.34% 702 3.26% 85.36% 11,059 10,357 – – 124 – 21,540 Québec-Centre UN Lib 9,750 55.13% 1,813 10.25% 84.08% 9,750 7,937 – – – – 17,687 Québec-Comté Lib Lib 34,090 57.80% 9,196 15.59% 87.07% 34,090 24,894 – – – – 58,984 Québec-Est UN Lib 21,001 52.20% 1,767 4.39% 88.59% 21,001 19,234 – – – – 40,235 Québec-Ouest Lib Lib 14,582 67.91% 7,692 35.82% 88.24% 14,582 6,890 – – – – 21,472 Richelieu Lib Lib 10,598 55.61% 2,137 11.21% 90.11% 10,598 8,461 – – – – 19,059 Richmond Lib Lib 9,932 57.88% 2,703 15.75% 85.16% 9,932 7,229 – – – – 17,161 Rimouski Lib Lib 10,720 52.22% 911 4.44% 82.70% 10,720 9,809 – – – – 20,529 Rivière-du-Loup Lib Lib 8,493 51.22% 403 2.43% 85.70% 8,493 8,090 – – – – 16,583 Roberval Lib UN 11,172 51.23% 537 2.46% 85.07% 10,635 11,172 – – – – 21,807 Rouville UN Lib 6,575 56.08% 1,426 12.16% 86.80% 6,575 5,149 – – – – 11,724 Rouyn-Noranda Lib Lib 9,386 60.06% 3,144 20.12% 85.50% 9,386 6,242 – – – – 15,628 Saguenay Lib Lib 12,116 57.35% 3,106 14.70% 78.97% 12,116 9,010 – – – – 21,126 Saint-Hyacinthe Lib Lib 12,070 56.30% 2,701 12.60% 84.85% 12,070 9,369 – – – – 21,439 Saint-Jean Lib Lib 8,869 50.55% 866 4.94% 89.57% 8,869 8,003 – 672 – – 17,544 Saint-Maurice Lib Lib 15,684 55.73% 3,224 11.46% 88.19% 15,684 12,460 – – – – 28,144 Saint-Sauveur UN UN 12,641 51.43% 702 2.86% 89.13% 11,939 12,641 – – – – 24,580 Shefford UN UN 12,026 50.01% 800 3.33% 85.22% 11,226 12,026 – 794 – – 24,046 Sherbrooke Lib Lib 18,539 52.46% 1,825 5.16% 81.29% 18,539 16,714 – – 86 – 35,339 Stanstead Lib Lib 8,918 56.32% 2,101 13.27% 84.29% 8,918 6,817 – – 99 – 15,834 Témiscamingue UN Lib 4,102 52.98% 462 5.97% 87.18% 4,102 3,640 – – – – 7,742 Témiscouata UN UN 5,931 60.69% 2,089 21.38% 82.38% 3,842 5,931 – – – – 9,773 Terrebonne Lib Lib 26,901 58.98% 8,188 17.95% 85.00% 26,901 18,713 – – – – 45,614 Trois-Rivières UN UN 15,323 51.75% 1,036 3.50% 89.96% 14,287 15,323 – – – – 29,610 Vaudreuil-Soulanges Lib Lib 10,780 57.49% 2,809 14.98% 90.45% 10,780 7,971 – – – – 18,751 Verchères Lib Lib 6,827 58.51% 1,985 17.01% 87.62% 6,827 4,842 – – – – 11,669 Westmount–Saint-Georges Lib Lib 13,114 69.03% 11,486 60.46% 59.04% 13,114 1,628 – – – 4,255 18,997 Wolfe Lib UN 3,939 52.92% 481 6.46% 90.26% 3,458 3,939 – – 46 – 7,443 Yamaska UN UN 4,078 60.16% 1,377 20.31% 84.60% 2,701 4,078 – – – – 6,779
= open seat = turnout is above provincial average = winning candidate was in previous Legislature = incumbent had switched allegiance = not incumbent; was previously elected to the Legislature = incumbency arose from byelection gain = other incumbents renominated = multiple candidates
Analysis + Party candidates in 2nd place Party in 1st place Party in 2nd place TotalLib UN Con 62 1 6331 311 1 Total32 62 1 95
+ Candidates ranked 1st to 5th place, by party Parties 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th63 62 2 31 52 1 1 7 1 1 9 1 1 8 2 1 1 1