Rothesay (electoral district)

Rothesay is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, Canada. The riding consists of the Town of Rothesay and its surroundings.

Rothesay

New Brunswick electoral district
The riding of Rothesay (as it exists from 2014) in relation to other electoral districts in Greater Saint John.
Coordinates:	45.385°N 65.965°W / 45.385; -65.965
Provincial electoral district
Legislature	Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick
MLA	Ted Flemming Progressive Conservative
District created	1994
First contested	1995
Last contested	2014
Demographics
Population (2011)	15,279[1]
Electors (2013)	10,962[1]
Census divisions	Kings County, Saint John County
Census subdivisions	Rothesay, Saint John, Simonds Parish, Rothesay Parish, Hampton Parish, Upham Parish

The district was created in 1994 as Saint John-Kings out of parts of Saint John County, Kings County and a small portion of the eastern edge of the City of Saint John all in and around the Town of Rothesay, a bedroom community of Saint John. In 2006, its boundaries were reduced to be just Rothesay and its immediate surroundings so, as a result, its name was changed to Rothesay.

2012 by-election

Four-term incumbent Margaret-Ann Blaney, upon appointment as CEO of Efficiency NB, announced that she would resign the seat effective May 25,[2] requiring a by-election to be called no later than November 25, 2012, which means an election will be held no later than December 31, 2012.[3] On May 25, Premier of New Brunswick David Alward announced that the by-election would be held on June 25.[4]

The incumbent Conservatives chose local lawyer and businessman Hugh John "Ted" Flemming III to be their candidate over local education council member Charlotte McGill Pierce. Flemming is the grandson and great-grandson of former premiers Hugh John Flemming and James Kidd Flemming respectively.[5]

Media speculated whether one of the three candidates for the Liberal Party leadership or New Democratic leader Dominic Cardy will seek the seat in this by-election as none of them held seats in the legislative assembly.[6] While none of the Liberal leadership candidates ran, NDP leader Cardy was acclaimed by his party.[7][8] The People's Alliance of New Brunswick announced that they will not contest the election and endorsed Cardy's candidacy.[9]

The Liberals chose retired police officer and clean water activist John Wilcox as their candidate over businessman Bill Gulliver by a margin of 81 to 49.[10]

Sharon Murphy is the New Brunswick Green Party candidate and Marjorie MacMurray is running as an independent.[11]

Issues

Early media coverage of the race focussed on the controversial appointment of Margaret-Ann Blaney as CEO of Efficiency New Brunswick, a crown corporation.[12] Several prominent Progressive Conservatives backed away from the issue[13] with Finance Minister Blaine Higgs demurring "it's certainly incumbent on me, and it's incumbent on my colleagues, to respect the decision that the premier makes,"[14] and PC candidate Hugh John "Ted" Flemming III stating "I wasn't there."[15] Premier David Alward, at the time of her appointment said "I have full confidence that I have the best person for the job,"[16] and Blaney noted that her motivation for taking the post arose in part from a desire to spend more time closer to family in the Saint John area, after a difficult year.[17] The appointment was criticized as political patronage by the New Brunswick Liberal Association and the New Brunswick New Democratic Party who noted that prior to Blaney accepting the $150,000-175,000 per year position it had been carried out by the deputy minister of Environment and Local Government at no additional cost to the taxpayer.[18] Deputy Premier Paul Robichaud offered competing explanations for the appointment suggesting that the deputy minister of Environment and Local Government responsibilities over Efficiency New Brunswick was only "a temporary position."[19] Dominic Cardy, the New Democratic candidate, proposed a bill to end political patronage that would require positions such as CEO of Efficiency New Brunswick to be publicly competed.[20]

Members of the Legislative Assembly

Assembly	Years	Member		Party
Saint John Kings Riding created from Kings West, Saint John-Fundy and East Saint John
53rd	1995–1999		Laureen Jarrett	Liberal
54th	1999–2003		Margaret-Ann Blaney	Progressive Conservative
55th	2003–2006
Rothesay
56th	2006–2010		Margaret-Ann Blaney	Progressive Conservative
57th	2010–2012
	2012–2014		Ted Flemming
58th	2014–2018
59th	2018–Present

Election results

Rothesay

2018 New Brunswick general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Ted Flemming	3,542	49.98	+4.78
	Liberal	Stephanie Tomilson	2,001	28.23	+0.85
	People's Alliance	Michael Griffin	722	10.19	+10.19
	Green	Ann McAllister	571	8.06	+3.86
	New Democratic	Josh Floyd	251	3.54	-19.68
Total valid votes			7,087	100.0
Total rejected ballots			22
Turnout			7,109	63.92	+2.52
Eligible voters			11,122
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		+1.97
Source: Elections New Brunswick[21]

2014 New Brunswick general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Hugh J. "Ted" Flemming	3,034	45.20	+6.94
	Liberal	Stephanie Tomilson	1,838	27.38	-3.89
	New Democratic	John Wilcox	1,559	23.22	-4.05
	Green	Ann McAllister	282	4.20	+2.58
Total valid votes			6,713	100.0
Total rejected ballots			14	0.21
Turnout			6,727	61.40	+16.29
Eligible voters			10,956
	Progressive Conservative notional hold		Swing		+5.42
Source: Elections New Brunswick[22]

New Brunswick provincial by-election, June 25, 2012 On the resignation of Margaret-Ann Blaney, May 16, 2012
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Hugh John "Ted" Flemming III	1,625	38.26	-18.31
	Liberal	John Wilcox	1,328	31.27	+2.87
	New Democratic	Dominic Cardy	1,158	27.27	+18.30
	Green	Sharon Murphy	69	1.62	-4.43
	Independent	Marjorie MacMurray	62	1.46	–
Total valid votes			4,242	100.0
Total rejected ballots			11	0.26
Turnout			4,253	45.11	-22.10
Eligible voters			9,428
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		-10.63
Source: Elections New Brunswick[23]

2010 New Brunswick general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Margaret-Ann Blaney	3,372	56.64	+8.01
	Liberal	Victoria Clarke	1,690	28.39	-18.74
	New Democratic	Pamela Scichilone	534	8.97	+4.73
	Green	Sharon Murphy-Flatt	357	6.00	–
Total valid votes			5,953	100.0
Total rejected ballots			41	0.68
Turnout			5,994	67.21
Eligible voters			8,918
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		+13.38
Source: Elections New Brunswick[24]

2006 New Brunswick general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Margaret-Ann Blaney	2,853	48.63	+0.60
	Liberal	Paul Barry	2,765	47.13	+9.50
	New Democratic	Troy Polchies	249	4.24	-7.88
Total valid votes			5,867	100.0
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		-4.45
[25]

Saint John-Kings

2003 New Brunswick general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Margaret-Ann Blaney	3,135	48.03	-17.56
	Liberal	Tom Young	2,456	37.63	+12.68
	New Democratic	Jeff Joseph Thibodeau	791	12.12	+2.66
	Grey	Mark LeBlanc	145	2.22	–
Total valid votes			6,527	100.0
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		-15.12
[26]

1999 New Brunswick general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Margaret-Ann Blaney	4,605	65.59	+29.62
	Liberal	Zita Longobardi	1,752	24.95	-19.66
	New Democratic	Ken Wilcox	664	9.46	-2.13
Total valid votes			7,021	100.0
	Progressive Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing		+24.64
[27]

1995 New Brunswick general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Laureen Jarrett	3,176	44.61
	Progressive Conservative	Bill Artiss	2,561	35.97
	New Democratic	Pam Coates	825	11.59
	Independent	Gary Ewart	497	6.98
	Natural Law	Allison Pring	60	0.84
Total valid votes			7,119	100.0
	Liberal notional gain		Swing
Independent candidate Gary Ewart was previously affiliated with the Confederation of Regions.
[28]

* This was a new district established in the New Brunswick electoral redistribution, 1994, when the old riding of Kings West was split between Hampton-Belleisle, Saint John-Kings and Kennebecasis.

References

1. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-10-05. Retrieved 2014-03-24.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
2. Premier announces new president, chief executive officer of Efficiency NB
3. Sections 13 through 15 of the Elections Act
4. CBC reporter Jacques Poitras on Twitter reporting Alward's announcement.
5. Otiena Ellwand. "Flemming wins Tory nomination in Rothesay," New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal, June 4, 2012.
6. CBC News. Blaney's resignation sparks byelection questions. Accessed May 22, 2012.
7. News 88.9. Rothesay NDP acclaim Cardy as by-election candidate. Accessed June 6, 2012.
8. CBC News. NDP Leader Dominic Cardy will run in byelection. Accessed June 6, 2012.
9. CBC News. People's Alliance backs NDP's Cardy in byelection, June 5, 2012. Accessed June 5, 2012.
10. Otiena Ellwand. "Retired officer wins Liberal nomination ," New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal, June 6, 2012.
11. Elections New Brunswick. "Five candidates running in Rothesay byelection," June 8, 2012. Accessed June 9, 2012.
12. CBC News. "Blaney controversy hangs over Rothesay byelection" June 12, 2012
13. CBC News. "Blaine Higgs balks at endorsing Blaney's appointment" June 6, 2012
14. CBC News. "Higgs backs Alward, refuses to endorse Blaney's job" June 8, 2012
15. CBC News. "Tory candidate refuses to endorse Blaney's appointment" CBC, June 7, 2012.
16. CBC News. "Blaine Higgs balks at endorsing Blaney's appointment" May 17, 2012
17. CBC News. "Blaney resigns to become Efficiency NB CEO ," CBC, May 16, 2012.
18. CBC News. "Liberals question if Blaney's new job was vacant ," CBC, May 17, 2012.
19. "Deputy premier offers new rationale for Blaney's job" CBC News, June 14, 2012
20. Country 94.1 FM "NDP Candidate Makes Election Promise" News June 7, 2012
21. "Provincial Election Results". Elections New Brunswick. 20 November 2018. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
22. Elections New Brunswick (6 Oct 2014). "Declared Results, 2014 New Brunswick election". Archived from the original on 2014-10-14. Retrieved 16 Oct 2014.
23. "By-election, Rothesay, June 25, 2012 - Report of the Chief Electoral Officer" (PDF). Elections New Brunswick. 6 July 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
24. "Thirty-seventh General Election - Report of the Chief Electoral Officer" (PDF). Elections New Brunswick. 27 September 2010. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
25. New Brunswick Votes 2006. CBC News. Retrieved May 22, 2009.
26. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-09-30. Retrieved 2014-03-24.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
27. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-09-28. Retrieved 2010-01-27.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
28. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-09-28. Retrieved 2013-03-18.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

External links

• Website of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick
• Map of Rothesay riding as of 2018