Electoral history of Jean Charest

Jean Charest is a former Canadian politician that served in various elected offices in both the federal government of Canada and the provincial government of Quebec. Starting his career in federal politics, Charest sought public office for the first time in the 1984 Canadian federal election as a candidate for the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. After 15 years in federal politics, which included a period as leader of the federal Progressive Conservatives from 1993 to 1998, Charest entered provincial politics and became the leader of the Quebec Liberal Party in 1998. He would then serve as the premier of Quebec from 2003 to 2012.

Throughout his career, Charest has run in 9 constituency level elections, led a political party in 6 general election campaigns, and sought the leadership of a political party on 4 occasions.

Overview

Electoral history of Jean Charest — Legislative general elections
Year	Type	Party		Votes			Seats		Position
Year	Type	Party		Total	%	±%	Total	±	Position
1997	Federal		Progressive Conservative	2,446,705	18.84%	+2.80	20 / 301	+18	Fifth party
1998	Provincial		Liberal	1,771,858	43.55%	-0.85	48 / 125	+1	Official Opposition
2003				1,755,863	45.99%	+2.44	76 / 125	+28	Majority
2007				1,313,664	33.08%	-12.91	48 / 125	-28	Minority
2008				1,366,046	42.08%	+9.00	66 / 125	+18	Majority
2012				1,360,968	31.20%	-10.88	50 / 125	-16	Official Opposition

Electoral history of Jean Charest — Constituency elections
Year	Type	Riding	Party		Votes for Charest				Result	Swing
Year	Type	Riding	Party		Total	%	P.	±%	Result	Swing
1984	Federal	Sherbrooke		Progressive Conservative	22,232	51.5%	1st	+42.2	Elected		Gain
1988					34,538	63.3%	1st	+11.8	Elected		Hold
1993					29,740	52.3%	1st	-11.0	Elected		Hold
1997					32,228	59.5%	1st	+7.2	Elected		Hold
1998	Provincial	Sherbrooke		Liberal	15,093	47.41%	1st	+4.6	Elected		Gain
2003					16,403	46.95%	1st	-0.5	Elected		Hold
2007					13,136	36.56%	1st	-10.4	Elected		Hold
2008					13,694	45.24%	1st	+8.7	Elected		Hold
2012					113,267	35.13%	2nd	-10.1	Lost		Gain

Electoral history of Jean Charest — Political party leadership elections
Year		Votes	%	Pts	%	P.	Result
1993	Progressive Conservative Party of Canada	1,369 (1st) 1,630 (2nd)	39.5% (1st) 47.3% (2nd)	Point system not used		2nd	Lost
1995	Progressive Conservative Party of Canada	1,187	96.04%			1st	Won
1998	Quebec Liberal Party	Acclaimed				1st	Won
2022	Conservative Party of Canada	48,650	11.65%	5,421.62	16.07%	2nd	Lost

General elections

Federal election, 1997

Canadian federal election, 1997 – Results summary
Party		Leaders	Seats Won	Popular Vote
	Liberal	Jean Chrétien¹	155	38.5%
	Reform	Preston Manning²	60	19.4%
	Bloc Québécois	Gilles Duceppe³	44	10.7%
	New Democratic	Alexa McDonough	21	11.1%
	Progressive Conservative	Jean Charest	20	18.8%
	Independent	–	1	0.5%
Total			301	99.0%⁴
Sources: Library of Parliament^[1]

¹ Prime Minister when election was called; Prime Minister after election.
² Leader of a third party when election was called; Leader of the Opposition after the election.
³ Leader of the Opposition when election was called; leader of a third party after the election.
⁴ Table does not include parties which received votes but did not elect any members.

Quebec general election, 1998

Quebec general election, 1998 – Results summary
Party		Leaders	Seats Won	Popular Vote
	Parti Québécois	Lucien Bouchard¹	76	42.87%
	Liberal	Jean Charest²	48	43.55%
	Action démocratique	Mario Dumont	1	11.81%
Total			125	98.23%³

¹ Premier when election was called; Premier after election.
² Leader of the Opposition when election was called; Leader of the Opposition after election.
³ Table does not include parties which received votes but did not elect any members.

Quebec general election, 2003

Quebec general election, 2003 – Results summary
Party		Leaders	Seats Won	Popular Vote
	Liberal	Jean Charest¹	76	45.99%
	Parti Québécois	Bernard Landry²	45	33.24%
	Action démocratique	Mario Dumont	4	18.18%
Total			125	97.41%³

¹ Leader of the Opposition when election was called; Premier after election.
² Premier when election was called; Leader of the Opposition after election.
³ Table does not include parties which received votes but did not elect any members.

Quebec general election, 2007

Quebec general election, 2007 – Results summary
Party		Leaders	Seats Won	Popular Vote
	Liberal	Jean Charest¹	48	33.08%
	Action démocratique	Mario Dumont²	41	30.84%
	Parti Québécois	André Boisclair³	36	28.35%
Total			125	92.27%⁴

¹ Premier when election was called; Premier after election.
² Third party leader when election was called; Leader of the Opposition after election.
³ Leader of the Opposition when election was called; Third party leader after election.
⁴ Table does not include parties which received votes but did not elect any members.

Quebec general election, 2008

Quebec general election, 2008 – Results summary
Party		Leaders	Seats Won	Popular Vote
	Liberal	Jean Charest¹	66	42.08%
	Parti Québécois	Pauline Marois²	51	35.17%
	Action démocratique	Mario Dumont³	7	16.37%
	Québec solidaire	Françoise David Amir Khadir	1	3.78%
Total			125	97.40%⁴

¹ Premier when election was called; Premier after election.
² Third party leader when election was called; Leader of the Opposition after election.
³ Leader of the Opposition when election was called; Third party leader after election.
⁴ Table does not include parties which received votes but did not elect any members.

Quebec general election, 2012

Quebec general election, 2012 – Results summary
Party		Leaders	Seats Won	Popular Vote
	Parti Québécois	Pauline Marois¹	54	31.95%
	Liberal	Jean Charest²	50	31.20%
	Coalition Avenir Québec	François Legault	19	27.05%
	Québec solidaire	Françoise David Amir Khadir	2	6.03%
Total			125	96.23%³

¹ Leader of the Opposition when election was called; Premier after election.
² Premier when election was called; Leader of the Opposition after election.
³ Table does not include parties which received votes but did not elect any members.

Constituency elections

Federal election, 1984: Sherbrooke

1984 Canadian federal election: Sherbrooke
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Jean Charest	22,232	51.5%	+42.2%
	Liberal	Irénée Pelletier	14,607	33.8%	-38.0%
	New Democratic	Daniel Berthold	4,230	9.8%	-0.2%
	Rhinoceros	Gilbert Peupa Ash	1,054	2.4%	-1.3%
	Parti nationaliste	Lorraine Déry	687	1.6%
	Social Credit	Fernand Bourret	197	0.5%	-3.7%
	Communist	Yves Lawler	92	0.2%	–
	Commonwealth of Canada	Françoise Chanteau	72	0.2%
Total valid votes			43,171	100.0%

Federal election, 1988: Sherbrooke

1988 Canadian federal election: Sherbrooke
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Jean Charest	34,538	63.3%	+11.8%
	Liberal	Dennis Wood	12,314	22.6%	-11.2%
	New Democratic	Alain Poirier	6,373	11.7%	+1.9%
	Rhinoceros	Bébé Sept Heures Pierre Granger	1,040	1.9%	-0.5%
	Independent	Normand Guy	148	0.3%
	Communist	Yves Lawler	143	0.3%	+0.1%
Total valid votes			54,556	100.0%

Federal election, 1993: Sherbrooke

1993 Canadian federal election: Sherbrooke
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Jean Charest	29,740	52.3%	−11.0%
	Bloc Québécois	Guy Boutin	21,559	37.9%
	Liberal	Jean Paul Pelletier	4,462	7.9%	-14.7%
	Natural Law	Serge Trépanier	516	0.9%
	New Democratic	Martine Caouette	445	0.8%	−10.9%
	Abolitionist	Jean-Guy Trépanier	91	0.2%
Total valid votes			56,813	100.0%
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		–

Federal election, 1997: Sherbrooke

1997 Canadian federal election: Sherbrooke
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Jean Charest	32,228	59.5%	+7.2%
	Bloc Québécois	Jacques Blanchette	16,086	29.7%	-8.2%
	Liberal	Martin Bureau	4,720	8.7%	+0.8%
	New Democratic	Tom Vouloumanos	628	1.2%	+0.4%
	Natural Law	Christian Simard	477	0.9%	0.0%
Total valid votes			54,139	100.0%	–
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		+7.7

Quebec general election, 1998: Sherbrooke

1998 Quebec general election: Sherbrooke
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Jean Charest	15,093	47.41	+4.56
	Parti Québécois	Marie Malavoy	14,186	44.56	-2.75
	Action démocratique	Patrick C. Rouillard	2,171	6.82	-1.41
	Independent	Normand Gilbert	169	0.53	–
	Bloc Pot	Christian Meunier	166	0.52	–
	Natural Law	Christian Simard	53	0.17	-0.88
Total valid votes			31,838	–	–
	Liberal gain from Parti Québécois		Swing		+3.66

Quebec general election, 2003: Sherbrooke

2003 Quebec general election: Sherbrooke
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Jean Charest	16,403	46.95	-0.46
	Parti Québécois	Marie Malavoy	13,806	39.52	-5.04
	Action démocratique	Peter Downey	4,169	11.93	+5.11
	UFP	Normand Gilbert	496	1.42	+0.89
	People's Front	Serge Lachapelle	64	0.18	–
Total valid votes			34,938	–	–
	Liberal hold		Swing		+2.29

Quebec general election, 2007: Sherbrooke

2007 Quebec general election: Sherbrooke
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Jean Charest	13,136	36.56	-10.39
	Parti Québécois	Claude Forgues	11,804	32.85	-6.67
	Action démocratique	Michel Dumont	6,409	17.84	+5.91
	Québec solidaire	Christian Bibeau	2,263	6.30	+4.88*
	Green	Steve Dubois	2,203	6.13	–
	Independent	Hubert Richard	115	0.32	–
Total valid votes			35,930	99.13	–
Total rejected ballots			316	8.87	–
Turnout			36,246	74.23	+0.74
Electors on the lists			48,831	–	–
	Liberal hold		Swing		-1.86

Quebec general election, 2008: Sherbrooke

2008 Quebec general election: Sherbrooke
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Jean Charest	13,694	45.24	+8.68
	Parti Québécois	Laurent-Paul Maheux	11,380	37.59	+4.74
	Action démocratique	Jacques Joly	2,074	6.85	-10.99
	Québec solidaire	Christian Bibeau	1,948	6.44	+0.14
	Green	Steve Dubois	1,016	3.36	-2.77
	Independent	Hubert Richard	158	0.52	+0.20
Total valid votes			30,270	98.68	–
Total rejected ballots			405	1.32	–
Turnout			30,675	62.61	-11.62
Electors on the lists			48,995	–	–
	Liberal hold		Swing		+1.97

Quebec general election, 2012: Sherbrooke

2012 Quebec general election: Sherbrooke
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Parti Québécois	Serge Cardin	15,909	42.12	+4.53
	Liberal	Jean Charest	13,267	35.13	-10.11
	Coalition Avenir Québec	Philippe Girard	4,457	11.80	+4.95*
	Québec solidaire	Christian Bibeau	2,586	6.85	+0.41
	Option nationale	Évelyne Beaudin	1,069	2.83	–
	Green	Suzanne Richer	407	1.08	-2.28
	Parti indépendantiste	Christian Clavet	73	0.19	–
Total valid votes			37,768	99.10	–
Total rejected ballots			344	0.90	–
Turnout			38,112	78.10	+15.49
Electors on the lists			48,799	–	–
	Parti Québécois gain from Liberal		Swing		+7.32
* Result compared to Action démocratique

Party leadership elections

Progressive Conservative Party of Canada leadership election, 1993

Delegate support by ballot^[2]
Candidate		1st ballot		2nd ballot
Candidate		Votes cast	%	Votes cast	%
	Kim Campbell	1,664	48.0%	1,817	52.7%
	Jean Charest	1,369	39.5%	1,630	47.3%
	Jim Edwards	307	8.8%	Endorsed Campbell
	Garth Turner	76	2.2%	Withdrew; Did not endorse
	Patrick Boyer	53	1.5%	Endorsed Charest
Total		3,469	100.0%	3,447	100.0%

First round

Campbell			47.97%
Charest			39.46%
Edwards			8.85%
Turner			2.19%
Boyer			1.53%

Final round

Campbell			52.71%
Charest			47.29%

Progressive Conservative Party of Canada leadership election, 1995

Following the resignation of Kim Campbell, Jean Charest was appointed as the interim leader of the Progressive Conservative Party on December 14, 1993. On April 29, 1995, a vote was held to confirm Charest as the permanent party leader.

Vote to ratify Jean Charest as leader
Candidate		Yes		No
Candidate		Delegate Count	%	Delegate Count	%
	Jean Charest	1,187	96.04%	49	3.96%
Total		1,236

Quebec Liberal leadership election, 1998

Jean Charest was acclaimed as leader of the Quebec Liberal Party on April 30, 1998.

Conservative Party of Canada leadership election, 2022

Conservative Leadership Election, September 10, 2022
First and only ballot
Candidate		Votes cast		Points won
	Pierre Poilievre	295,285	70.70%	22,993.42	68.15%
	Jean Charest	48,650	11.65%	5,421.62	16.07%
	Leslyn Lewis	46,374	11.10%	3,269.54	9.69%
	Roman Baber	22,381	5.36%	1,696.76	5.03%
Total		412,690	98.81%	33,737.99	98.94%
Sources: Conservative Party of Canada^[3]

References

↑ "History of Federal Ridings since 1867". Library of Parliament.
↑ "1993 Progressive Conservative Leadership Convention". CPAC. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
↑ "Riding by riding results" (PDF). cpcleadership.ca. September 10, 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 11, 2022. Retrieved September 17, 2022.

[1] "History of Federal Ridings since 1867". Library of Parliament.

[CPAC-2] "1993 Progressive Conservative Leadership Convention". CPAC. Retrieved 11 June 2019.

[3] "Riding by riding results" (PDF). cpcleadership.ca. September 10, 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 11, 2022. Retrieved September 17, 2022.

[1]

[2]

[3]

Electoral history of Canadian politicians
Prime ministers	Macdonald Mackenzie Abbott Thompson Bowell Tupper Laurier Borden Meighen King Bennett St. Laurent Diefenbaker Pearson P. Trudeau Clark Turner Mulroney Campbell Chrétien Martin Harper J. Trudeau Carney
Other	Jean Charest Tommy Douglas Jack Layton Pierre Poilievre