Alexandre Daneau spent his election night on October 5 at the Au Vieux-Beauharnois brewery in Beauharnois.
Polls had predicted a likely victory for Daneau, and the Parti Québécois (PQ) candidate was declared the new member of the National Assembly for the Beauharnois riding soon after pools closed, with a lead of 10,218 votes.
During his victory speech, Daneau made a point of thanking voters, volunteers, and everyone who supported him during the campaign.
Within the next year, the new MNA plans to set up his constituency office. He also hopes to organize a regional summit on homelessness and, above all, to prioritize the issues facing the Hôpital du Suroît at the National Assembly. “It’s a matter of survival for an entire ecosystem – not just in terms of health, but also economically,” he said.
The victory is also likely to bring about some changes in his personal life. “My daughters would tell you that I don’t go out in sweatpants anymore,” he quipped. At 43, he has also joined social media for the first time, a new development he believes will become an important tool in his new role.
Following his victory, Daneau said he would “call Claude Reid to congratulate him on his great campaign.” He also announced plans to take the next 24 hours off, noting that he had been on the campaign trail since May 1.
Claude Reid, the outgoing MNA for the Coalition Avenir Québec, said that he does not view the result as a personal defeat, but as the public’s decision to change their government. He explained that he remains proud of his track record since he was first elected in 2018, and that he is leaving politics behind having learned a great deal.
Reid admitted he had hoped to continue his work, “but the public decided otherwise,” he acknowledged. He is now planning to take some time to reflect on what comes next.
A total of 40,282 votes were cast in the Beauharnois riding, for a voter turnout of 67.18 per cent, which is just over the provincial average of 66.89 per cent.
In a race that was expected to be close, the results proved otherwise. Daneau received 17,729 votes or 44.88 per cent of the vote. Reid received 7,511 votes or 19.02 per cent of the ballots cast, while Conservative Party of Quebec candidate Angélika Homère finished in third with 6,181 votes or 15.65 per cent. Liberal Party of Quebec candidate Charles Royer Tremblay received 4,994 votes or 12.4 per cent of the total ballots cast, while Virginie Hockers of Québec Solidaire received 2,519 votes for 6.38 per cent. Charmaine Carhalho of the Green Party of Quebec finished with 393 votes for just under one per cent support, while Démocratie Directe candidate Karine Pelletier received 173 nods for 0.44 per cent of the total votes cast.