2003 Prince Edward Island general election

The 2003 Prince Edward Island general election was held on September 29, 2003 to elect the 27 members of the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island. The election was called on September 2 by Premier Pat Binns, who enjoyed a high level of popularity among voters.

Polling took place on September 29, despite a blackout across two-thirds of the province and other damage caused by Hurricane Juan.

Binns' Progressive Conservatives were elected to a third consecutive majority government, the first time this had happened in Island history (for the PC party). The Premier, who ran in Murray River-Gaspereaux, was re-elected, along with his entire existing cabinet.

The Liberals wrested three seats from the Tories, increasing their standing to four seats. The party's new leader, Robert Ghiz, was one of those. The son of former premier Joe Ghiz beat Charlottetown mayor George MacDonald in the riding of Charlottetown-Rochford Square in Charlottetown.

The New Democrats did not win any seats; their leader, Gary Robichaud, was defeated by a Tory incumbent in Wilmot-Summerside.

Results

{| style="width:55%; text-align:center;"

|+ ↓

|- style="color:white;"

| style="background:#9999FF; width:85.19%;" | 23

| style="background:#EA6D6A; width:14.81%;" | 4

| PC

| Liberal

{| class="wikitable"

!rowspan="2" colspan="2"|Party

!rowspan="2"|Party Leader

!rowspan="2"|# of candidates

!colspan="3"|Seats

!colspan="2"|Popular Vote

!2000 election

!Elected

!% Change

|Progressive Conservative

|Pat Binns

| align="right"|27

| align="right"|26

! align="right"|23

| align="right"|-11.5%

| align="right"|43,712

| align="right"|54.29%

|Liberal

|Robert Ghiz

| align="right"|27

| align="right"|1

! align="right"|4

| align="right"|+300%

| align="right"|34,347

| align="right"|42.66%

|New Democrats

|Gary Robichaud

| align="right"|24

| align="right"|-

! align="right"|-

| align="right"|-

| align="right"|2,460

| align="right"|3.06%

! colspan="2"|Total

! align="right"| 

! align="right"|77

! align="right"|27

! align="right"|-

! align="right"|80,519

! align="right"|100%

Largest and smallest margins of victory

The five largest margins of victory were:

Kensington-Malpeque: Mitch Murphy, PC, defeated Janice Sherry, Liberal, by 1416 votes.
North River-Rice Point: Ron MacKinley, Liberal, defeated Donna Butler, PC, by 1103 votes.
Murray River-Gaspereaux: Pat Binns, PC, defeated Michelle Johnston, Liberal, by 959 votes.
Glen Stewart-Bellevue Cove: David McKenna, PC, defeated Eric Ellsworth, Liberal, by 958 votes.
Alberton-Miminegash: Cletus Dunn, PC, defeated Robert B. White, Liberal, by 737 votes.

The five smallest margins of victory were:

Sherwood-Hillsborough: Elmer MacFadyen, PC, defeated Robert Mitchell, Liberal, by 61 votes.
Borden-Kinkora: Fred McCardle, PC, defeated Lorne Sutherland, Liberal, by 71 votes.
St. Eleanors-Summerside: Helen MacDonald, PC, defeated Gerard Greenan, Liberal, by 93 votes.
Evangeline-Miscouche: Wilfred Arsenault, PC, defeated Sonny Gallant, Liberal, by 104 votes.
Charlottetown-Kings Square: Richard Brown, Liberal, defeated Bob MacMillan, PC, by 142 votes.

Riding-by-riding results

Prince County

|bgcolor="whitesmoke"|Alberton-Miminegash

|Cletus Dunn 1697

|Robert B. White 960

|Donna Hardy 53

|Cletus J. Dunn

|bgcolor="whitesmoke"|Borden-Kinkora

|Fred McCardle 1528

|Lorne Sutherland 1457

|James Rodd 80

|Eric Hammill†

|bgcolor="whitesmoke"|Cascumpec-Grand River

|Philip Brown 1477

|Robert Noye 981

|Peter Robinson 178

|Philip Brown

|bgcolor="whitesmoke"|Evangeline-Miscouche

|Wilfred Arsenault 1312

|Sonny Gallant 1208

|Leona Arsenault 69

|Wilfred Arsenault

|bgcolor="whitesmoke"|Kensington-Malpeque

|Mitch Murphy 2536

|Janice Sherry 1120

|George S. Hunter 92

|Mitch Murphy

|bgcolor="whitesmoke"|St. Eleanors-Summerside

|Helen MacDonald 1590

|Gerard Greenan 1497

|Paulette Halupa 97

|Helen MacDonald

|bgcolor="whitesmoke"|Tignish-Deblois

|Gail Shea 1480

|Neil LeClair 1177

|Reg Pendergast 20

|Gail Shea

|bgcolor="whitesmoke"|West Point-Bloomfield

|Eva Rodgerson 1193

|Sean O'Halloran 872

|Ed Kilfoil 232

|Eva Rodgerson

|bgcolor="whitesmoke"|Wilmot-Summerside

|Greg Deighan 1807

|Duke Cormier 1402

|Gary Robichaud 257

|Greg Deighan

Queens County

|bgcolor="whitesmoke"|Belfast-Pownal Bay

|Wilbur MacDonald 1331

|Sarah Jane Bell 1091

|Michael Page 110

|Wilbur MacDonald

|bgcolor="whitesmoke"|Crapaud-Hazel Grove

|Norman MacPhee 1683

|Carolyn Bertram 1829

|Miranda Ellis 99

|Norman MacPhee

|bgcolor="whitesmoke"|Glen Stewart-Bellevue Cove

|David McKenna 2249

|Eric Ellsworth 1291

|Jane MacNeil 243

|Pat Mella

|bgcolor="whitesmoke"|North River-Rice Point

|Donna Butler 1403

|Ron MacKinley 2506

|Marlene Hunt 108

|Ron MacKinley

|bgcolor="whitesmoke"|Park Corner-Oyster Bed

|Beth MacKenzie 1908

|Jean Tingley 1608

|Ken Bingham 184

|Beth MacKenzie

|bgcolor="whitesmoke"|Stanhope-East Royalty

|Jamie Ballem 1858

|Robert Vessey 1400

|Gerard Gallant 78

|Jamie Ballem

|bgcolor="whitesmoke"|Tracadie-Fort Augustus

|Mildred Dover 1628

|Buck Watts 1253

|Robert Perry 64

|Mildred Dover

|bgcolor="whitesmoke"|Winsloe-West Royalty

|Wayne Collins 1971

|Gordon MacKay 1816

|Don MacKinnon†

Charlottetown

|bgcolor="whitesmoke"|Charlottetown-Kings Square

|Bob MacMillan 1278

|Richard Brown 1420

|Kevin Roach 86

|Bob MacMillan

|bgcolor="whitesmoke"|Charlottetown-Rochford Square

|George MacDonald 1276

|Robert Ghiz 1433

|J'Nan Brown 120

|Jeff Lantz †

|bgcolor="whitesmoke"|Charlottetown-Spring Park

|Wes MacAleer 1649

|Barry Ling 1448

|Teresa Peters 99

|Wes MacAleer

|bgcolor="whitesmoke"|Parkdale-Belvedere

|Chester Gillan 1562

|Charlie Cooke 897

|Nick Boragina 78

|Chester Gillan

|bgcolor="whitesmoke"|Sherwood-Hillsborough

|Elmer MacFadyen 1408

|Robert Mitchell 1347

|Ronald G. Kelly 75

|Elmer MacFadyen

Kings County

|bgcolor="whitesmoke"|Georgetown-Baldwin's Road

|Mike Currie 1652

|Danny Walker 984

|Jane Dunphy 64

|Mike Currie

|bgcolor="whitesmoke"|Montague-Kilmuir

|Jim Bagnall 1431

|John Van Dyke 792

|Lorne Cudmore 30

|Jim Bagnall

|bgcolor="whitesmoke"|Morell-Fortune Bay

|Kevin MacAdam 1601

|Larry McGuire 1050

|Kevin J. MacAdam

|bgcolor="whitesmoke"|Murray River-Gaspereaux

|Pat Binns 1584

|Michelle Johnston 625

|Edith Perry 45

|Pat Binns

|bgcolor="whitesmoke"|Souris-Elmira

|Andy Mooney 1291

|Philip MacDonald 1047

|Andy Mooney