Quebec general election, 1962

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The Quebec general election of 1962 was held on November 14, 1962, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. The incumbent Quebec Liberal Party, led by Jean Lesage, won re-election, defeating the Union Nationale (UN) led by Daniel Johnson, Sr..

In an unusual move, the election was called just two years after the previous 1960 general election. Lesage sought a mandate for the nationalization of the electricity industry, declaring this single issue important enough to stake his political career on it.

A few days before the election, the Union Nationale's chief organizer André Lagarde was arrested for fraud. The Liberals claimed this was proof of lingering corruption dating from the Maurice Duplessis era, but the Union cried foul, and were vindicated after the election. However, the incident may well have contributed to the Union's defeat.

The Liberal Party won an increased number of seats and a higher percentage of the popular vote, and the nationalization program was carried out. Future Parti Québécois founder René Lévesque served as a cabinet minister in the Lesage government and spearheaded the nationalization of power utilities to greatly expand Hydro-Québec.

[edit] Results

Party		Party leader	# of candidates	Seats			Popular vote
Party		Party leader	# of candidates	1960	Elected	% Change	#	%	% Change
	Liberal	Jean Lesage	97	51	63	+23.5%	1,205,253	56.40%	+5.0%
	Union Nationale	Daniel Johnson, Sr.	95	43	31	-27.9%	900,817	42.15%	-4.5%
	Other		32	1	1	-	30,897	1.45%	-0.6%
Total			224	95	95	-	2,136,967	100%