It Looks Like François Legault's CAQ Have Won The Quebec Election
The party's majority was called about 10 minutes after polls closed.
François Legault stands smiling in front of podium surrounded by fellow CAQ party members.
François Legault will seemingly serve a second term as premier, with the CBC and other major news outlets officially projecting that his Coalition Avenir Québec party will win a majority of seats in the October 3 Quebec election.
As of 10 p.m. on election night, the CAQ garnered 1,119,451 votes (41.78%) and 91 seats with the Liberal Party slated to hold onto its position as official opposition with 370,011 votes (13.58%) and at least 21 seats. Quebec Solidaire held in third with 411,102 votes (14.85 %) and 11 seats, while the PQ had 420,977 votes (14,99%) and 2 seats. The province's Conservative Party received 377,205 votes (13.26%) with no seats and leader Éric Duhaime projected to lose his election to a CAQ rival.
François Legault won his riding early on in L'Assomption, as did the controversial (and possibly soon-to-be former) Immigration Minister Jean Boulet in Trois-Rivières.
\u201c\u2705 L'Assomption : Fran\u00e7ois Legault \u00e9lu. \n\n#CAQ #Continuons #CAQ2022 #polqc\u201d— Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec (@Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec) 1664842653
The results don't come as a great surprise. Polls had shown the CAQ cruising to victory for much of the party's time in office, and QC125, a poll aggregator, has long projected a crushing victory — and even projected the party could win over 100 seats earlier this year. (That projection dropped to the low 90s in recent days, still a significant majority of the National Assembly's 125 seats.)
As far as the popular vote goes, projections over the CAQ's term in office have shown the party enduring a gradual decline to 39% (plus/minus 5%), but still far above the preferences for other parties.