Quebec's Orange Wave re-visited: Where did the NDP vote go?

The NDP saw its 2011 Orange Wave dissolve into thin air, holding onto just 16 seats in Quebec, including at least six close races where opponents will be clamouring for a recount.

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• Map: Montreal before and after

"Honestly, I'm surprised by the result," said Regine Thera, a party supporter, at NDP headquarters at Montreal's Palais de Congrès.

"Certainly, I'm sad. Certainly, I'm disappointed," said a stoic Matthew Rankin, who had campaigned for NDP candidate Anne Lagacé Dowson against Justin Trudeau in Papineau. "But at the same time, that's chased by a certain relief that there is no more Harper."

"It's bittersweet, I guess." 

New Democrat Leader Tom Mulcair hung onto his Outremont riding by a 4,376 vote margin over the Liberal candidate, Rachel Bendayan. 

Boulerice far ahead in Rosemont—La-Petite-Patrie

Alexandre Boulerice, the NDP's labour critic and the NDP MP often touted as a future leadership contender, crushed his opponents in Rosemont—La-Petite-Patrie, 16,416 votes ahead of the Bloc Québécois' Claude André. The Liberals' Nadine Medawar was a close third.

The NDP losses are 'chased by a certain relief that there is no more Harper,'- NDP campaign worker Matthew Rankin

In Rimouski-Neigette-Témiscouata-Les Basques, the NDP's Quebec caucus chair Guy Caron also cruised to an easy victory, holding onto the eastern Quebec riding with 43 per cent of the vote.

Recounts a certainty

But most of the races in NDP-held ridings were much tighter, with half a dozen incumbents declared victors by a margin of just a few hundred votes. Those include:

• Hochelaga: Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet beat Liberal Marwah Rizqy by 461 votes.
• Jonquière: Karine Trudell held the riding against the Liberals' Marc Pettersen by 369 votes.
• Longueuil-Saint-Hubert: Pierre Nantel beat Liberal Michael O'Grady by 703 votes.
• Saint-Hyacinthe-Bagot: Brigitte Sansoucy beat Liberal René Vincelette by 548 votes.
• Salaberry-Suroît: Anne Minh-Thu Quach came out 776 votes ahead of the Liberal Robert Sauvé.
• Trois-Rivières: Robert Aubin beat Liberal Yvon Boivin by 896 votes.

​Laverdière a giant killer once again 

For the second straight election, the NDP's Hélène Laverdière proved she could take on the popular Bloc Québécois leader, Gilles Duceppe, beating him easily on his own turf in the riding of Laurier-Sainte-Marie. The former diplomat and NDP critic for international cooperation won the riding with almost 38 per cent of the vote.

• NDP hangs onto riding of Sherbrooke

Quebec Cree lawyer Romeo Saganash also held his northern Quebec riding of Abitibi-Baie-James-Nunavik-Eeyou by a 1,704 vote margin.

Orange crushed in all directions

However, for every NDP re-election story, there were more stories of losses.  

All seven ridings gained by the Conservatives on Oct. 19 came at the expense of the NDP.

The Bloc Québécois ended up with 10 seats – still two short of attaining official party status. However, nine of those 10 ridings had been NDP territory after the 2011 Orange Wave.

Pierre-Boucher-Les Patriotes-Verchères is another riding where there is certain to be a recount:The BQ's Xavier Barsalou-Duval won by just 213 votes over the Liberals' Lucie Gagnon. But the incumbent, NDP candidate Raphaël Fortin, ended up in third place.

However, the NDP's biggest losses were to the Liberals: The Red Tide cost the New Democrats 30 Quebec ridings. Indeed, let's just call it a Red Tsunami in ridings like Ahuntsic-Cartierville, where defeated Montreal mayoralty candidate Mélanie Joly trounced Bloqiste-turned-New-Democrat Maria Mourani by more than 9.000 votes.

It was a similar story in the old Liberal stronghold of Honoré-Mercier, where veteran MP Pablo Rodriguez took back his old seat by a margin of nearly 21,000 votes.

'MP for Vegas' re-elected in Berthier-Maskinongé

Ruth Ellen Brosseau was the first NDP candidate to be declared a winner after the polls closed in Quebec, in the riding of Berthier-Maskinongé.

Her 8,973-vote victory over her Bloc opponent was a sweet one for the former bartender, who was ridiculed after her 2011 win. She was a self-professed "paper candidate" who had never stepped foot in the riding, struggled with her French and spent three days of the campaign in Las Vegas celebrating her 27th birthday rather than head out to the hustings.

However, after that rocky start, she buckled down, worked on her French, travelled regularly to her riding and became an exemplary representative of her constituents. Last night, they thanked her – sending her back to Ottawa for a second mandate.