1989 Prince Edward Island general election

1989 Prince Edward Island general election

← 1986 May 29, 1989 (1989-05-29) 1993 →
← outgoing members members →
All 32 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island 17 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   PC Leader Joe Ghiz Mel Gass Party Liberal Progressive Conservative Leader since October 24, 1981 June 11, 1988 Leader's seat 6th Queens Ran in 2nd Queens (lost) Last election 21 seats, 50.3% 11 seats, 45.5% Seats won 30 2 Seat change 9 9 Popular vote 85,982 50,731 Percentage 60.7% 35.8% Swing 10.4pp 9.7pp
Seats won by each party per district. Voters elect two members (one Councillor and Assemblyman) from each of the 16 districts.
Premier before election Joe Ghiz Liberal Premier after election Joe Ghiz Liberal

The 1989 Prince Edward Island general election was held on May 29, 1989.^[1]

The campaign resulted in the re-election of the Liberal government of Premier Joe Ghiz. In this election, the Liberals won 60.7% of the popular vote, the highest percentage that a winning party has taken on record in Prince Edward Island. The Progressive Conservatives won 2 seats despite taking 36 percent of the popular vote; they were due 12 seats. This was the lowest share of the vote that the Progressive Conservatives ever received, 35.8%. Only 5 times has the Opposition had 2 or fewer seats in the history of Prince Edward Island; this was one of them.

One of the two members from each constituency is styled a Councillor, and the other an Assemblyman. In electoral contests Councillor candidates run against Councillor candidates; Assemblyman candidates against Assemblyman candidates.^[2]

The Legislature of Prince Edward Island had two levels of membership from 1893 to 1996 - Assemblymen and Councillors. This was a holdover from when the Island had a bicameral legislature, the General Assembly and the Legislative Council.

In 1893, the Legislative Council was abolished and had its membership merged with the Assembly, though the two titles remained separate and were elected by different electoral franchises. Assembleymen were elected by all eligible voters of within a district. Before 1963, Councillors were only elected by landowners within a district, but afterward they were elected in the same manner as Assemblymen.^[4]

• Leyton-Brown, David, ed. (1995). Canadian Annual Review of Politics and Public Affairs, 1989. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 9780802007148.