The 2019 Prince Edward Island general election was held to elect the members of the 66th General Assembly of Prince Edward Island. The vote in 26 of the 27 districts was held on 23 April 2019, while the vote for the member from Charlottetown-Hillsborough Park was deferred to 15 July due to the death of the Green Party's candidate. However, Charlottetown-Hillsborough Park still voted in a referendum on electoral reform. Natalie Jameson won the deferred election in the district.
The Progressive Conservatives under new leader Dennis King won thirteen seats (including the deferred seat) to form a minority government. The Greens under leader Peter Bevan-Baker won eight seats to form the Official Opposition. The Liberals under Premier Wade MacLauchlan were reduced to six seats and MacLauchlan lost in his own district. The Progressive Conservatives' share of the popular vote was steady at 37%, the Green Party enjoyed a 20 point increase to 31%, and the Liberals' share dropped 11 points to 30%. The Greens won several seats in or near the two cities of Charlottetown and Summerside, while the Progressive Conservatives took several more rural seats from the Liberals. The result was considered a major political upset, as the Progressive Conservatives won a plurality of the popular vote and came within one seat of an outright majority in the legislative assembly despite having not lead in any opinion polls since the previous provincial election, and polling had generally indicated the race to be between the Greens and the Liberals; a few polls taken in the weeks prior to the election had seen the Progressive Conservatives move into second place ahead of the Liberals, but even then the polls had consistently predicted a Green victory.
A referendum on electoral reform that asked Islanders if they wished to adopt a mixed-member proportional representation voting system was held in conjunction with the election. The initiative failed to pass in at least 60% of the districts as required under provincial legislation to proceed so the province did not change from the first past the post system in subsequent elections. As well, the Island-wide popular vote showed about 51% of voters voted to stay with the current first-past-the-post voting system while about 49% voted for the proposed change.
The election was the first time since the 1890 Prince Edward Island general election that the province elected a minority government, the first time in the province's history that a significant number of voters turned to a third party besides the dominant Liberals and Progressive Conservatives, and the first time that a Green Party reached official opposition status in any Canadian provincial legislature.
Under the provisions of the Prince Edward Island Elections Act, an election was required by the fixed date of 7 October 2019, unless it was called earlier. After months of speculation of an early election call, Premier Wade MacLauchlan announced the election at a rally on 26 March.
In the previous election, on 4 May 2015, the Liberal Party, led by Premier Wade MacLauchlan, was re-elected to a majority government, earning election in 18 out of the 27 ridings (and down 2 from their pre-election total). The official opposition Progressive Conservatives, under leader Rob Lantz, increased its seat count from 3 before the election to 8, despite Lantz losing in Charlottetown-Brighton. Meanwhile, the Green Party, under leader Peter Bevan-Baker, won its first ever seat, Bevan-Baker's, in Kellys Cross-Cumberland. The NDP were unable to win a seat, continuing their streak of being shut out of the legislature since 2000.
Despite the increase in the Progressive Conservatives' seat count, on 23 September of that year, Lantz stepped down as leader. Since Lantz's departure, The Progressive Conservatives held two leadership elections: one on 20 October 2017, selecting MLA James Aylward as their leader; and again on 9 February 2019, choosing Dennis King as their new leader following Aylward's announcement on 27 September 2018 his intention to resign when his successor was chosen.
Source : electionspei.ca
|- !rowspan="2" colspan="2" align=left|Party !rowspan="2" align=left|Party leader !rowspan="2"|<span style="font-size: 85%;">Candidates</span> !colspan="4" align=center|Seats !colspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|Popular vote |- !align="center"|2015 !align="center"|<span style="font-size: 85%;">Dissol.</span> !align="center"|2019 ! style="text-align:center;"|Change ! style="text-align:center;"|# ! style="text-align:center;"|% ! style="text-align:center;"|Change
|align=left|Dennis King |align="right"|27 |align="right"|8 |align="right"|8 |align="right"|13 |align="right"| +5 |align="right"|30,415 |align="right"|36.73 |align="right"|âÂÂ0.66
|align=left|Peter Bevan-Baker |align="right"|27 |align="right"|1 |align="right"|2 |align="right"|8 |align="right"| +7 |align="right"|25,302 |align="right"|30.55 |align="right"|+19.74
|align=left|Wade MacLauchlan |align="right"|27 |align="right"|18 |align="right"|16 |align="right"|6 |align="right"| âÂÂ12 |align="right"|24,346 |align="right"|29.41 |align="right"|âÂÂ11.42
|align=left|Joe Byrne |align="right"|24 |align="right"|0 |align="right"|0 |align="right"|0 |align="right"|â |align="right"|2,454 |align="right"|2.96 |align="right"|âÂÂ8.01
|colspan="2" align="left"|Independent |align="right"|3 |align="right"|0 |align="right"|1 |align="right"|0 |align="right"|- |align="right"|282 |align="right"|0.34 |align="right"|+0.34 |- !colspan="11"| |- |colspan="8" align=left|Blank and invalid ballots |align="right"|386 |align="right"|0.46 |align="right"| |- | style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"|Total | style="text-align:right;"|108 | style="text-align:right;"|27 | style="text-align:right;"|27 | style="text-align:right;"|27 | style="text-align:right;"| | style="text-align:right;"|83,185 | style="text-align:right;"|100 | style="text-align:right;"| |- |colspan="8" align=left|Registered voters / turnout |align="right"|107,109 |align="right"|77.66 |align="right"|
The following is a list of scientific opinion polls of published voter intentions.
|- |bgcolor="whitesmoke"|4. Belfast-Murray River | |Ian MacPherson<br />615 - 20.91% || |Darlene Compton<br />1,545 - 52.53% | |James Sanders<br />781 - 26.56% | | | | || |Darlene Compton |- |bgcolor="whitesmoke"|2. Georgetown-Pownal | |Kevin Doyle<br />663 - 21.60% || |Steven Myers<br />1,493 - 48.63% | |Susan Hartley<br />865 - 28.18% | |Edith Perry<br />49 - 1.60% | | || |Steven Myers <br /><span style="font-size: 75%;">Georgetown-St. Peters</span> |- |bgcolor="whitesmoke"|5. Mermaid-Stratford | |Randy Cooper<br />902 - 29.81% | |Mary Ellen McInnis<br />934 - 30.87% || |Michele Beaton<br />1,152 - 38.07% | |Lawrence Millar<br />38 - 1.26% | | || |Alan McIsaacâ <br /><span style="font-size: 75%;">Vernon River-Stratford</span> |- |bgcolor="whitesmoke"|3. Montague-Kilmuir | |Daphne Griffin<br />785 -26.55% || |Cory Deagle<br />1,373 - 46.43% | |John Allen MacLean<br />675 - 22.83% | |Billy Cann<br />124 - 4.19% | | || |Allen Roachâ |- |bgcolor="whitesmoke"|7. Morell-Donagh | |Susan Myers<br />557 - 18.32% || |Sidney MacEwen<br />1,752 - 57.61% | |Kyle MacDonald<br />697 - 22.92% | |Margaret Andrade<br />35 - 1.15% | | || |Sidney MacEwen <br /><span style="font-size: 75%;">Morell-Mermaid</span> |- |bgcolor="whitesmoke"|1. Souris-Elmira | |Tommy Kickham<br />861 - 28.59% || |Colin LaVie<br />1,347 - 44.72% | |Boyd Leard<br />804 - 26.69% | | | | || |Colin LaVie |- |bgcolor="whitesmoke"|8. Stanhope-Marshfield | |Wade MacLauchlan<br /> 1,196 - 36.36% || |Bloyce Thompson<br />1,300 - 39.53% | |Sarah Donald<br />747 - 22.71% | |Marian White<br />46 - 1.40% | | || |Wade MacLauchlan <br /><span style="font-size: 75%;">York-Oyster Bed</span> |- |bgcolor="whitesmoke"|6. Stratford-Keppoch | |David Dunphy<br />882 - 29.52% || |James Aylward<br />1,270 - 42.50% | |Devon Strang<br />805 - 26.94% | |Lynne Thiele<br />31 - 1.04% | | || |James Aylward <br /><span style="font-size: 75%;">Stratford-Kinlock</span>
|- |bgcolor="whitesmoke"|19. Borden-Kinkora | |Jamie Stride<br />417 - 12.93% || |Jamie Fox<br />1,680 - 52.11% | |Matthew MacFarlane<br />1,041 - 32.29% | |Joan Gauvin<br />32 - 0.99% | |Fred McCardle<br />54 - 1.67% || |Jamie Fox |- |bgcolor="whitesmoke"|15. Brackley-Hunter River | |Windsor Wight<br />899 - 28.54% || |Dennis King<br />1,315 - 41.75% | |Greg Bradley<br />879 - 27.90% | |Leah-Jane Hayward<br />57 - 1.81% | | || |Bush Dumville <br /><span style="font-size: 75%;">West Royalty-Springvale</span> |- |bgcolor="whitesmoke"|16. Cornwall-Meadowbank || |Heath MacDonald<br />1,643 - 47.90% | |Elaine Barnes<br />602 - 17.55% | |Ellen Jones<br />1,137 - 33.15% | |Craig Nash<br />48 - 1.40% | | || |Heath MacDonald |- |bgcolor="whitesmoke"|20. Kensington-Malpeque | |Nancy Beth Guptill<br />389 - 12.03% || |Matthew MacKay<br />2,008 - 62.11% | |Matthew J. MacKay<br />805 - 24.90% | |Carole MacFarlane<br />31 - 0.96% | | || |Matthew MacKay |- |bgcolor="whitesmoke"|17. New Haven-Rocky Point | |Judy MacNevin<br />515 - 14.80% | |Kris Currie<br />1,068 - 30.70% || |Peter Bevan-Baker<br />1,870 - 53.75% | | | |Don Wills<br />26 - 0.75% || |Peter Bevan-Baker <br /><span style="font-size: 75%;">Kellys Cross-Cumberland</span> |- |bgcolor="whitesmoke"|18. Rustico-Emerald | |Alexander (Sandy) MacKay<br />489 - 14.65% || |Brad Trivers<br />1,920 - 57.52% | |Colin Jeffrey<br />899 - 26.93% | |Sean Deagle<br />30 - 0.90% | | || |Brad Trivers
|- |bgcolor="whitesmoke"|11. Charlottetown-Belvedere | |Roxanne Carter-Thompson<br />846 - 26.56% | |Ronnie Carragher<br />998 - 31.33% || |Hannah Bell<br />1,286 - 40.38% | |Trevor Leclerc<br />55 - 1.73% | | || |Hannah Bell <br /><span style="font-size: 75%;">Charlottetown-Parkdale</span> |- |bgcolor="whitesmoke"|13. Charlottetown-Brighton | |Jordan Brown<br />1,223 - 37.88% | |Donna Hurry<br />567 - 17.56% || |Ole Hammarlund<br />1,301 - 40.29% | |Simone Webster<br />138 - 4.27% | | || |Jordan Brown |- |rowspan=2 bgcolor="whitesmoke"|9. Charlottetown-Hillsborough Park | |Karen Lavers<br />635 25.71% || |Natalie Jameson<br />1,080 43.72% | |John Andrew<br />709 - 28.70% | |Gordon Gay<br />46 - 1.86% | | |rowspan=2 | |rowspan=2|Buck Wattsâ <br /><span style="font-size: 75%;">Tracadie-Hillsborough Park</span> |- |colspan=10 align="center"|<small>Election deferred, held on 15 July 2019 due to the death of Green Party candidate Josh Underhay</small> |- |bgcolor="whitesmoke"|12. Charlottetown-Victoria Park | |Richard Brown<br />875 - 27.86% | |Tim Keizer<br />656 - 20.89% || |Karla Bernard<br />1,272 - 40.50% | |Joe Byrne<br />338 - 10.76% | | || |Richard Brown |- |bgcolor="whitesmoke"|14. Charlottetown-West Royalty || |Gord McNeilly<br />1,079 - 35.16% | |Angus Birt<br />766 - 24.96% | |Gavin Hall<br />966 - 31.48% | |Janis Newman<br />56 - 1.82% | |Bush Dumville<br />202 - 6.58% || |Kathleen Caseyâ <br /><span style="font-size: 75%;">Charlottetown-Lewis Point</span> |- |bgcolor="whitesmoke"|10. Charlottetown-Winsloe || |Robert Mitchell<br />1,420 - 41.97% | |Mike Gillis<br />865 - 25.57% | |Amanda Morrison<br />1,057 - 31.24% | |Jesse Reddin Cousins<br />41 - 1.21% | | || |Robert Mitchell <br /><span style="font-size: 75%;">Charlottetown-Sherwood</span>
|- |bgcolor="whitesmoke"|26. Alberton-Bloomfield | |Pat Murphy<br />1,153 - 40.02% || |Ernie Hudson<br />1,312 - 45.54% | |James McKenna<br />317 - 11.00% | |Michelle Arsenault<br />99 - 3.44% || |Pat Murphy <br /><span style="font-size: 75%;">Alberton-Roseville</span> |- |bgcolor="whitesmoke"|24. Evangeline-Miscouche || |Sonny Gallant<br />1,100 - 44.55% | |Jason Woodbury<br />575 - 23.29% | |Nick Arsenault<br />761 - 30.82% | |Grant Gallant<br />33 - 1.34% || |Sonny Gallant |- |bgcolor="whitesmoke"|25. O'Leary-Inverness || |Robert Henderson<br />1,102 - 40.92% | |Barb Broome<br />462 - 17.16% | |Jason Charette<br />231 - 8.58% | |Herb Dickieson<br />898 - 33.35% || |Robert Henderson |- |bgcolor="whitesmoke"|22. Summerside-South Drive | |Tina Mundy<br />938 - 31.61% | |Paul Walsh<br />662 - 22.31% || |Steve Howard<br />1,302 - 43.88% | |Garth Oatway<br />65 - 2.19% || |Tina Mundy <br /><span style="font-size: 75%;">Summerside-St. Eleanors</span> |- |bgcolor="whitesmoke"|21. Summerside-Wilmot | |Chris Palmer<br />892 - 27.65% | |Tyler DesRoches<br />1,037 - 32.15% || |Lynne Lund<br />1,258 - 39.00% | |Paulette Halupa<br />39 - 1.21% || |Chris Palmer |- |bgcolor="whitesmoke"|27. Tignish-Palmer Road || |Hal Perry<br />1,388 - 49.25% | |Melissa Handrahan<br />802 - 28.46% | |Sean Doyle<br />584 - 20.72% | |Dale Ryan<br />44 - 1.56% || |Hal Perry |- |bgcolor="whitesmoke"|23. Tyne Valley-Sherbrooke | |Paula Biggar<br />882 - 28.54% | |Hilton MacLennan<br />1,026 - 33.20% || |Trish Altass<br />1,101 - 35.63% | |Robin Enman<br />81 - 2.62% || |Paula Biggar <br /><span style="font-size: 75%;">Tyne Valley-Linkletter</span>