The 1939 Quebec general election was held on October 25, 1939, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Canada. The

Quebec Liberal Party The Quebec Liberal Party (QLP; , PLQ) is a provincial political party in Quebec. It has been independent of the federal Liberal Party of Canada since 1955. The QLP has traditionally supported a form of Quebec federalist ideology with nuance ...

, led by former

premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

Adélard Godbout Joseph-Adélard Godbout (September 24, 1892 – September 18, 1956) was a Canadian agronomist and politician. He served as the 15th premier of Quebec briefly in 1936, and again from 1939 to 1944, in addition to serving as the leader of the Part ...

, defeated the incumbent Union Nationale, led by

Maurice Duplessis Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis, (; April 20, 1890 – September 7, 1959) byname "Le Chef" (, "The Boss"), was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 16th premier of Quebec. A Conservatism in Canada, conservative, Quebec nationalism, ...

. This was Godbout's second non-consecutive term of office and his only victory out of four consecutive general elections opposing Duplessis. The

Action libérale nationale The Action libérale nationale (; ALN; ) was a short-lived provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. It was founded during the Great Depression and led by Paul Gouin. The ALN played an important role in the foundation of the Union National ...

, which had won 25 seats in the 1935 election and then merged with the Quebec Conservative Party, was re-formed by Paul Gouin, who had split with Duplessis soon after the formation of the Union Nationale. However the ALN obtained only 4.5% of the vote and no seats. It soon disbanded. Also, a rump Conservative Party ran three candidates who won 0.2% of the vote and no seats. This party also disbanded.

Redistribution of ridings

An Act passed before the election''An Act respecting the electoral districts of the Province'', S.Q. 1939, c. 7. reduced the number of MLAs from 90 to 86 through the following changes:

Campaign

Results

, - ! colspan=2 rowspan=2 , Political party ! rowspan=2 , Party leader ! colspan=4 , MLAs ! colspan=4 , Votes , - ! Candidates !

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

!1939 !± !# ! ± !% ! ± (pp) , - , style="text-align:left;",

, 85 , 14 , 69 , 55 , 301,382 , 77,008 , 53.50 , 14.09 , - , rowspan="3" , , style="text-align:left;" colspan="10", Union Nationale and allies , - , style="text-align:left;" , , style="text-align:left;",

, 84 , 76 , 14 , 62 , 217,413 , 106,399 , 38.60 , 18.28 , - , style="text-align:left;" , Joseph-Philias Morin ( Champlain) elected under Conservative banner; joined UN caucus after election. , style="text-align:left;", – , 1 , – , 1 , 1 , 2,989 , , 0.53 , , - , style="background-color:#D9B2FF;" , , style="text-align:left;" , ''

'' , style="text-align:left;", Paul Gouin , 56 , – , – , – , 25,295 , , 4.49 , , - , style="background-color:#FF5555;" , , style="text-align:left;" , ''

Parti national The Parti National () was the name taken by the Liberal Party of Quebec, Canada, under the premiership of Honoré Mercier. Origin and beliefs It was founded on November 17, 1885, the day following the execution of Métis Leader Louis Riel. ...

''Formed during the 20th Legislature, when five MLAs broke from the UN. Only René Chaloult ( Lotbinière) ran for re-election under the Nationalist ticket, and he declared himself as an Independent-Liberal after the election , style="text-align:left;" , – , 1 , – , 1 , 1 , 3,074 , , 0.55 , , - , rowspan="11" , , style="text-align:left;" colspan="10", Other candidates , - , style="text-align:left;" , Camillien Houde was elected in Montréal–Sainte-Marie , style="text-align:left;", – , 5 , – , 1 , 1 , 6,281 , 5,514 , 1.12 , 0.99 , - , style="text-align:left;" , , style="text-align:left;", – , 1 , – , – , – , 2,513 , 1,044 , 0.45 , 0.19 , - , style="text-align:left;" , , style="text-align:left;", – , 3 , – , – , – , 1,679 , 191 , 0.30 , 0.03 , - , style="text-align:left;" , , style="text-align:left;", – , 3 , – , – , – , 788 , 8,958 , 0.14 , 1.57 , - , style="text-align:left;" , , style="text-align:left;", – , 1 , – , – , – , 617 , , 0.11 , , - , style="text-align:left;" , , style="text-align:left;", – , 3 , – , – , – , 469 , 1,459 , 0.08 , 0.26 , - , style="text-align:left;" , , style="text-align:left;", – , 3 , – , – , – , 410 , 331 , 0.07 , 0.06 , - , style="text-align:left;" , , style="text-align:left;", – , 1 , – , – , – , 228 , , 0.04 , , - , style="text-align:left;" , , style="text-align:left;", – , 1 , – , – , – , 159 , 886 , 0.03 , 0.15 , - , style="text-align:left;" , , style="text-align:left;", – , colspan="8" style="text-align:center;", ''did not campaign'' , - ! colspan="3" style="text-align:left;" , Total , 248 , 90 ! " colspan="2", 86 ! " colspan="2", 563,297 ! " colspan="2", 100% , - , colspan="7" style="text-align:left;" , Rejected ballots , 7,334 , 2,404 , colspan="2", , - , colspan="7" style="text-align:left;" , Voter turnout , 570,631 , 3,624 , 77.00 , 0.06 , - , colspan="7" style="text-align:left;" , Registered electors (contested ridings only) , 741,131 , 5,283 , colspan="2", , - , colspan="5" style="text-align:left;" , Candidates returned by

acclamation An acclamation is a form of election that does not use a ballot. It derives from the ancient Roman word ''acclamatio'', a kind of ritual greeting and expression of approval towards imperial officials in certain social contexts. Voting Voice vot ...

Edgar Rochette ( Charlevoix—Saguenay), for the Liberals , 1 , 1 , colspan="4",

Synopsis of results

: = 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 : = previously incumbent in another riding : = other incumbents renominated : = previously an MP in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

: = multiple candidates

Analysis

References

{{Quebec elections Quebec general election Elections in Quebec

General election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...