1948 Quebec general election

The 1948 Quebec general election was held on July 28, 1948, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the province of Quebec, Canada. The incumbent Union Nationale, led by Maurice Duplessis, won re-election, defeating the Quebec Liberal Party, led by Adélard Godbout.

This was the third time (and the second in a row) that Duplessis led his party to a general election victory.

It was Godbout's third (and final) loss to Duplessis in a general election, and the second in a row. He had won one victory against Duplessis years earlier in the 1939 election. In this election, the Liberals fared particularly poorly, reduced to only 8 seats, although their share of the popular vote was around 36%.

Adjustment of representation The Legislative Assembly was expanded from 91 to 92 members, as a consequence of Charlevoix—Saguenay no longer returning a joint member, separate members being elected from Charlevoix and Saguenay.

Campaign The Union des électeurs fielded candidates in all 92 ridings, with 71 becoming, at minimum, three-way contests between them, the UN and the Liberals:

+ Riding contests, by number of candidates (1948) CandidatesUNLibUdECCFIndI-UNLab-PrI-LibLabI-CCFTotal370 71 71 1 213413 13 13 3 6 3 1 5254 4 4 1 3 3 1 2062 2 2 1 3 1 1 1272 2 2 1 3 2 1 1 14Total91 92 92 6 16 3 1 8 1 1 311

Results

! colspan=2 rowspan=2 | Political party ! rowspan=2 | Party leader ! colspan=4 | MLAs ! colspan=4 | Votes |- ! Candidates !1944 !1948 !± !# ! ± !% ! ± (pp)

|style="text-align:left;"|Maurice Duplessis |91 |48 |82 |34 |775,747 |270,086 |51.25 |13.22

|style="text-align:left;"|Adélard Godbout |92 |37 |8 |29 |547,478 |24,162 |36.16 |3.19

|style="text-align:left;"|P. Ernest Grégoire |92 |– |– |– |140,050 |123,508 |9.25 |8.01

|style="text-align:left;"|  |7 |1 |– |1 |9,016 |24,970 |0.60 |1.96

|style="text-align:left;"|  |– |4 |– |4 | style="text-align:center;" colspan="4"|did not campaign |- |rowspan="10" |   |style="text-align:left;" colspan="10"|Other candidates |- |style="text-align:left;" |René Chaloult was reelected as an Independent in Québec-Comté, the only riding in which the UN did not field a candidateFrank Hanley was elected in Montréal–Sainte-Anne |style="text-align:left;"|– |11 |– |2 |2 |23,956 |11,190 |1.58 |0.62 |- |style="text-align:left;" | |style="text-align:left;"|– |– |1 |– |1 | style="text-align:center;" colspan="4"|did not campaign |- |style="text-align:left;" | |style="text-align:left;"|– |8 |– |– |– |8,649 |1,874 |0.57 |0.06 |- |style="text-align:left;" | |style="text-align:left;"|– |1 |– |– |– |4,899 |2,974 |0.32 |0.27 |- |style="text-align:left;" | |style="text-align:left;"|– |7 |– |– |– |2,968 |7,868 |0.20 |0.45 |- |style="text-align:left;" | |style="text-align:left;"|– |1 |– |– |– |1,098 |7,257 |0.07 |0.56 |- |style="text-align:left;" | |style="text-align:left;"|– |1 |– |– |– |110 |2,905 |– |0.23 |- |style="text-align:left;" | |style="text-align:left;"|– | style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2" colspan="8"|did not campaign |- |style="text-align:left;" | |style="text-align:left;"|– |- ! colspan="3" style="text-align:left;" | Total | 311 | 91 ! " colspan="2"| 92 ! " colspan="2"| 1,513,971 ! " colspan="2"| 100% |- | colspan="7" style="text-align:left;" | Rejected ballots | 17,928 | 2,376 | colspan="2"| |- | colspan="7" style="text-align:left;" | Voter turnout | 1,531,899 | 186,388 | 75.22 | 3.24 |- | colspan="7" style="text-align:left;" | Registered electors | 2,036,576 | 167,180 | colspan="2"|

Vote and seat summaries

Synopsis of results + Results by riding - 1948 Quebec general election Riding Winning party Turnoutincluding spoilt ballots VotesName 1944Party Votes Share Margin#Margin% UN Lib CCF Total   Abitibi-Est Lib UN8,373 42.23%2,233 11.26%81.88%8,373 5,313 6,140 –––––––19,826 Abitibi-Ouest UN UN5,669 50.90%2,497 22.42%87.56%5,669 2,196 3,172 ––100 ––––11,137 Argenteuil Lib UN5,488 48.47%433 3.82%82.88%5,488 5,055 779 –––––––11,322 Arthabaska Lib UN8,368 54.83%3,222 21.11%88.03%8,368 5,146 1,749 –––––––15,263 Bagot Lib UN5,220 59.53%1,925 21.95%88.78%5,220 3,295 254 –––––––8,769 Beauce BP UN12,571 58.94%8,012 37.57%88.57%12,571 4,559 4,197 –––––––21,327 Beauharnois BP UN9,929 63.35%5,923 37.79%82.02%9,929 4,006 1,738 –––––––15,673 Bellechasse Lib UN5,027 48.48%781 7.53%83.49%5,027 4,246 1,096 –––––––10,369 Berthier Lib UN5,952 51.49%410 3.55%89.11%5,952 5,542 66 –––––––11,560 Bonaventure UN UN8,384 50.99%715 4.35%84.86%8,384 7,669 137 ––252 ––––16,442 Brome UN UN3,977 60.09%1,484 22.42%83.39%3,977 2,493 148 –––––––6,618 Chambly Lib UN12,197 52.04%3,499 14.93%73.78%12,197 8,698 869 –661 1,014 ––––23,439 Champlain UN UN11,465 68.52%7,332 43.82%86.46%11,465 4,133 1,135 –––––––16,733 Charlevoix New UN6,078 54.45%2,014 18.04%84.80%6,078 4,064 961 ––59 ––––11,162 Châteauguay Lib UN4,277 54.46%803 10.23%83.82%4,277 3,474 102 –––––––7,853 Chicoutimi UN UN23,602 57.82%13,806 33.82%85.69%23,602 7,424 9,796 –––––––40,822 Compton Lib UN5,593 53.21%1,987 18.90%82.05%5,593 3,606 1,312 –––––––10,511 Deux-Montagnes UN UN5,638 62.64%2,431 27.01%83.52%5,638 3,207 155 –––––––9,000 Dorchester UN UN9,345 61.53%4,504 29.65%87.45%9,345 4,841 1,002 –––––––15,188 Drummond UN UN10,016 55.09%5,289 29.09%79.24%10,016 4,727 3,438 –––––––18,181 Frontenac UN UN6,948 56.30%3,898 31.59%88.13%6,948 3,050 2,343 –––––––12,341 Gaspé-Nord UN Lib3,572 44.95%213 2.68%91.81%3,359 3,572 97 – 918 –––––7,946 Gaspé-Sud UN UN8,002 60.98%3,034 23.12%83.12%8,002 4,968 152 –––––––13,122 Gatineau Lib UN6,649 52.34%1,104 8.69%78.56%6,649 5,545 510 –––––––12,704 Hull UN UN12,036 65.60%6,499 35.42%78.23%12,036 5,537 774 –––––––18,347 Huntingdon Lib UN3,453 56.54%879 14.39%83.64%3,453 2,574 80 –––––––6,107 Iberville UN UN3,369 59.55%1,344 23.76%86.71%3,369 2,025 228 –35 –––––5,657 Îles-de-la-Madeleine UN UN2,442 58.14%723 17.21%91.59%2,442 1,719 39 –––––––4,200 Jacques-Cartier Lib Lib14,524 49.59%4,074 13.91%66.06%10,450 14,524 1,088 ––3,225 ––––29,287 Joliette UN UN10,482 64.99%5,030 31.19%86.46%10,482 5,452 195 –––––––16,129 Kamouraska Lib UN5,519 49.89%454 4.10%83.56%5,519 5,065 479 –––––––11,063 L'Assomption UN UN5,971 62.32%2,729 28.48%84.56%5,971 3,242 233 ––––135 ––9,581 L'Islet Lib UN4,374 45.04%40 0.41%85.92%4,374 4,334 1,004 –––––––9,712 Labelle UN UN6,694 64.07%4,127 39.50%86.60%6,694 2,567 1,187 –––––––10,448 Lac-Saint-Jean Lib UN6,277 55.12%1,661 14.59%93.33%6,277 4,616 494 –––––––11,387 Laval Lib UN29,043 63.36%15,582 33.99%67.94%29,043 13,461 3,033 ––––300 ––45,837 Laviolette UN UN8,612 54.05%4,466 28.03%79.84%8,612 4,146 3,176 –––––––15,934 Lévis UN UN10,322 52.41%4,512 22.91%85.06%10,322 5,810 3,561 –––––––19,693 Lotbinière Lib UN5,900 49.22%668 5.57%89.78%5,900 5,232 854 –––––––11,986 Maisonneuve UN UN18,493 52.70%5,128 14.61%66.51%18,493 13,365 2,744 486 ––––––35,088 Maskinongé UN UN5,184 55.68%1,124 12.07%91.60%5,184 4,060 67 –––––––9,311 Matane UN UN9,405 57.40%3,069 18.73%87.73%9,405 6,336 643 –––––––16,384 Matapédia UN UN6,039 47.00%776 6.04%87.62%6,039 5,263 1,547 –––––––12,849 Mégantic UN UN9,787 51.04%3,110 16.22%89.39%9,787 6,677 2,710 –––––––19,174 Missisquoi Lib UN5,899 53.75%1,086 9.90%82.83%5,899 4,813 263 –––––––10,975 Montcalm UN UN4,645 59.04%1,466 18.63%86.12%4,645 3,179 43 –––––––7,867 Montmagny Lib UN5,284 49.81%702 6.62%85.41%5,284 4,582 742 –––––––10,608 Montmorency Lib UN4,018 43.88%245 2.68%87.87%4,018 3,773 1,365 –––––––9,156 Montréal–Jeanne-Mance Lib UN21,456 55.28%6,491 16.72%62.55%21,456 14,965 1,424 970 ––––––38,815 Montréal-Laurier BP UN17,234 58.65%7,176 24.42%65.40%17,234 10,058 1,236 ––––855 ––29,383 Montréal-Mercier Lib UN17,844 57.71%6,444 20.84%60.23%17,844 11,400 1,347 ––––331 ––30,922 Montréal–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce Lib Lib18,834 76.13%13,237 53.50%53.01%5,597 18,834 309 –––––––24,740 Montréal-Outremont Lib Lib15,115 70.29%9,137 42.49%49.32%5,978 15,115 412 –––––––21,505 Montréal–Saint-Henri UN UN17,754 53.83%6,340 19.22%68.85%17,754 11,414 1,625 1,779 –166 –246 ––32,984 Montréal–Saint-Jacques UN UN12,328 60.56%6,404 31.46%61.71%12,328 5,924 1,008 –––––1,098 –20,358 Montréal–Saint-Louis Lib Lib11,032 38.37%646 2.25%49.83%10,386 11,032 845 1,593 ––4,899 –––28,755 Montréal–Sainte-Anne Lib Ind8,216 42.10%1,771 9.07%56.27%2,632 6,445 556 366 8,398 1,120 ––––19,517 Montréal–Sainte-Marie UN UN16,108 55.48%7,793 26.84%61.51%16,108 8,315 1,639 –1,873 ––1,101 ––29,036 Montréal-Verdun Lib Lib12,639 52.74%6,017 25.11%57.26%6,622 12,639 1,052 3,544 –––––110 23,967 Napierville-Laprairie UN UN7,080 65.01%3,389 31.12%87.67%7,080 3,691 119 –––––––10,890 Nicolet UN UN6,810 49.72%207 1.51%83.88%6,810 6,603 285 –––––––13,698 Papineau UN UN10,129 61.93%6,149 37.59%82.86%10,129 3,980 2,247 –––––––16,356 Pontiac Lib UN4,723 56.03%1,346 15.97%76.61%4,723 3,377 329 –––––––8,429 Portneuf UN UN10,506 55.55%5,224 27.62%85.44%10,506 5,282 3,123 –––––––18,911 Québec-Centre Lib UN8,174 47.66%404 2.36%73.52%8,174 7,770 1,208 –––––––17,152 Québec-Comté Nat Ind11,807 49.49%4,261 17.86%81.97%–7,546 4,503 –11,807 –––––23,856 Québec-Est Lib UN14,998 54.17%6,004 21.68%80.48%14,998 8,994 3,696 –––––––27,688 Québec-Ouest Lib UN7,034 50.35%844 6.04%74.43%7,034 6,190 747 –––––––13,971 Richelieu Lib UN6,647 47.86%377 2.71%84.48%6,647 6,270 970 –––––––13,887 Richmond UN UN7,135 50.00%2,784 19.51%84.70%7,135 4,351 2,783 –––––––14,269 Rimouski UN UN7,819 44.81%1,439 8.25%85.62%7,819 6,380 3,252 –––––––17,451 Rivière-du-Loup Lib UN9,391 56.90%2,582 15.64%89.63%9,391 6,809 305 –––––––16,505 Roberval UN UN9,695 55.02%3,782 21.46%89.83%9,695 5,913 2,013 –––––––17,621 Rouville UN UN4,946 54.78%992 10.99%88.04%4,946 3,954 129 –––––––9,029 Rouyn-Noranda CCF UN5,245 41.73%1,183 9.41%81.09%5,245 3,263 4,062 –––––––12,570 Saguenay New UN4,726 41.11%2,207 19.20%75.15%4,726 2,519 1,274 –264 2,713 ––––11,496 Saint-Hyacinthe UN UN7,973 49.20%1,206 7.44%79.41%7,973 6,767 1,465 –––––––16,205 Saint-Jean UN UN7,535 65.27%3,948 34.20%82.78%7,535 3,587 423 –––––––11,545 Saint-Maurice UN UN11,830 53.40%5,491 24.79%84.98%11,830 3,983 6,339 –––––––22,152 Saint-Sauveur Lib UN10,149 46.48%3,261 14.93%83.66%10,149 6,888 4,799 –––––––21,836 Shefford UN UN9,375 52.28%2,578 14.38%83.20%9,375 6,797 1,760 –––––––17,932 Sherbrooke UN UN13,818 57.26%8,307 34.42%77.15%13,818 5,511 4,525 278 ––––––24,132 Stanstead BP UN6,869 53.57%2,597 20.25%71.41%6,869 4,272 1,681 –––––––12,822 Témiscamingue UN UN3,374 43.95%858 11.18%86.54%3,374 2,516 1,787 –––––––7,677 Témiscouata UN UN4,779 45.24%894 8.46%87.41%4,779 3,885 1,900 –––––––10,564 Terrebonne UN UN16,805 59.94%7,911 28.22%83.33%16,805 8,894 2,337 –––––––28,036 Trois-Rivières UN UN16,097 76.91%12,261 58.58%81.12%16,097 3,836 997 –––––––20,930 Vaudreuil-Soulanges Lib UN6,272 55.29%1,359 11.98%82.22%6,272 4,913 158 –––––––11,343 Verchères Lib Lib3,796 49.97%346 4.55%86.48%3,450 3,796 351 –––––––7,597 Westmount–Saint-Georges Lib Lib13,947 75.87%9,879 53.74%47.94%4,068 13,947 367 –––––––18,382 Wolfe UN UN4,205 52.44%905 11.29%91.53%4,205 3,300 513 –––––––8,018 Yamaska UN UN4,326 62.24%1,954 28.11%83.33%4,326 2,372 253 –––––––6,951

= open seat = turnout is above provincial average = winning candidate was in previous Legislature = incumbent had switched allegiance = incumbency arose from byelection gain = previously incumbent in another riding = other incumbents renominated = multiple candidates

Analysis + Party candidates in 2nd place Party in 1st place Party in 2nd place TotalUN Lib UDE Ind-UN 76 5 1 828 8 2 2 Total8 78 5 1 92

+ Candidates ranked 1st to 5th place, by party Parties 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th Total82 8 1 918 78 6 922 1 1 3 7 5 77 8 2 92 1 3 3 7 2 4 6 1 1 1 1 5 2 7 1 1

+ Resulting composition of the 23rd Quebec Legislative Assembly Source PartyUNLibIndTotalSeats retained Incumbents returned 45 5 50Incumbent changed allegiance 1 1Open seats held1 2 3Seats changing hands Incumbents defeated25 1 1 27Open seats gained5 5Byelection gains held4 4New ridings Incumbent returned in new seat1 1New MLA elected1 1Total82 8 2 92

See also List of Quebec premiers