2021 Nova Scotia general election

The 2021 Nova Scotia general election was held on August 17, 2021, to elect members to the 64th General Assembly of Nova Scotia.

2021 Nova Scotia general election

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55 seats in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly 28 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout	55.07% 1.72 pp[1]
Majority party Minority party Third party   Leader Tim Houston Iain Rankin Gary Burrill Party Progressive Conservative Liberal New Democratic Leader since October 27, 2018 February 6, 2021 February 27, 2016 Leader's seat Pictou East Timberlea-Prospect Halifax Chebucto Last election 17 seats, 35.73% 27 seats, 39.47% 7 seats, 21.51% Seats won 31 17 6 Seat change 14 10 1 Popular vote 162,473 155,026 88,477 Percentage 38.44% 36.67% 20.93% Swing 2.71 pp 2.80 pp 0.58 pp
Popular vote by riding. As this is an FPTP election, seat totals are not determined by popular vote, but instead via results by each riding. Click the map for more details.
Premier before election Iain Rankin Liberal Premier after election Tim Houston Progressive Conservative

In a major upset,^[2] Tim Houston led the Progressive Conservatives to power for the first time since 2006, and with a majority government for the first time since 1999. With a popular vote share of 38.44%, the PCs won the smallest winning vote share of any majority government in Nova Scotian electoral history, and won nearly twice the number of seats as the Liberals, despite their overall vote share differing by less than 2%.

Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin’s victory in Cumberland North marked the first occasion since 1988 that an independent candidate won election to the House of Assembly.^[3] A record number of four Black Nova Scotians were elected MLAs; prior to this election, only five Black MLAs had ever been elected in Nova Scotia.^[4]

Redistribution of ridings

In April 2019, the Electoral Boundaries Commission released its report which recommended changing the number of electoral districts from 51 to 55, including reinstating the four former districts of Argyle, Clare, Preston and Richmond.^[5] In October 2019, the Nova Scotia Legislature passed implementing legislation, providing for the following changes to take effect at the forthcoming election.^[6][7]

Abolished ridings	New ridings
Renaming of districts
Argyle-Barrington	Argyle
Cape Breton Centre	Cape Breton Centre-Whitney Pier
Cape Breton-Richmond	Richmond
Glace Bay	Glace Bay-Dominion
Guysborough-Eastern Shore-Tracadie	Guysborough-Tracadie
Preston-Dartmouth	Preston
Sackville-Beaver Bank	Sackville-Uniacke
Sydney River-Mira-Louisbourg	Cape Breton East
Sydney-Whitney Pier	Sydney-Membertou
Division of districts
Bedford	Bedford Basin Bedford South
Queens-Shelburne	Queens Shelburne
Reorganization of districts
Annapolis Clare-Digby	Annapolis Clare Digby-Annapolis
Cole Harbour-Portland Valley Cole Harbour-Eastern Passage	Cole Harbour Cole Harbour-Dartmouth Eastern Passage

Timeline

See also: 63rd General Assembly of Nova Scotia

• May 30, 2017 – The Liberal Party, led by Stephen McNeil, wins the 2017 Nova Scotia general election, the Progressive Conservative Association stay as the official opposition, and the New Democratic Party remain at third party status.
• January 24, 2018 - Jamie Baillie resigns as leader of the Progressive Conservative Association, and MLA Karla MacFarlane becomes interim leader.^[8]
• October 27, 2018 - Tim Houston is elected leader of the Progressive Conservative Association.^[9]
• August 6, 2020 - Premier Stephen McNeil announces he will resign as leader of the Liberal Party and as Premier of Nova Scotia in early 2021.^[10]
• February 6, 2021 - Iain Rankin is elected as leader of the Liberal Party.^[11]
• February 23, 2021 - Iain Rankin is officially sworn in as the 29th Premier of Nova Scotia.^[12]
• July 17, 2021 - Premier Iain Rankin calls a general election for August 17, 2021.^[13]

Seat	Before				Change
	Date	Member	Party	Reason	Date	Member	Party
Cumberland South	January 24, 2018[8]	Jamie Baillie	█ PC	Resignation[a 1]	June 19, 2018[14]	Tory Rushton	█ PC
Sackville-Cobequid	November 16, 2018[15]	Dave Wilson	█ New Democratic	Resignation	June 18, 2019[16]	Steve Craig	█ PC
Truro-Bible Hill-Millbrook-Salmon River	June 9, 2019[17]	Lenore Zann	█ New Democratic	Resigned from caucus[a 2]			█ Independent
Cape Breton-Richmond	June 24, 2019[18]	Alana Paon	█ PC	Removed from caucus[a 3]			█ Independent
Argyle-Barrington	July 31, 2019[19]	Chris d'Entremont	█ PC	Resignation[a 4]	September 3, 2019[20]	Colton LeBlanc	█ PC
Northside-Westmount	July 31, 2019[19]	Eddie Orrell	█ PC	Resignation[a 5]	September 3, 2019[20]	Murray Ryan	█ PC
Sydney River-Mira-Louisbourg	July 31, 2019[19]	Alfie MacLeod	█ PC	Resignation[a 6]	September 3, 2019[20]	Brian Comer	█ PC
Truro-Bible Hill-Millbrook-Salmon River	September 12, 2019	Lenore Zann	█ Independent	Resignation[a 7]	March 10, 2020	Dave Ritcey	█ PC
Cape Breton Centre	February 6, 2020	Tammy Martin	█ New Democratic	Resignation[a 8]	March 10, 2020	Kendra Coombes	█ New Democratic
Chester-St. Margaret's	February 23, 2020	Hugh MacKay	█ Liberal	Resigned from caucus[a 9]			█ Independent
Annapolis	May 3, 2021	Stephen McNeil	█ Liberal	Resignation[a 10]
Hants East	June 1, 2021	Margaret Miller	█ Liberal	Resignation[a 11]
Cumberland North	June 24, 2021	Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin	█ PC	Removed from caucus[a 12]			█ Independent

Changes in seats held (2017–2021)

1. amid an allegation of harassment
2. in order to seek the federal Liberal nomination in Cumberland-Colchester
3. amid a conflict over constituency office accessibility
4. to run in the federal district of West Nova
5. to run in the federal district of Sydney-Victoria
6. to run in the federal district of Cape Breton-Canso
7. to run in the federal district of Cumberland—Colchester
8. due to ongoing health issues
9. amid charges of impaired driving
10. retired from political life
11. retired from political life
12. amid encouraging a protest that blocked the provincial border

Leaders' debates

2021 Nova Scotia general election debates
Date	Organizers	Venue	Moderator(s)	P  Participant  A  Absent invitee  N  Non-invitee					Source
				Liberal	PC	NDP	Green	Atlantica
July 28, 2021	CBC Nova Scotia	Neptune Theatre, Halifax	Tom Murphy Amy Smith	P Rankin	P Houston	P Burrill	N Alexander	N Dean	[21]
August 5, 2021	CTV Atlantic	CTV Studios, Halifax	Steve Murphy	P Rankin	P Houston	P Burrill	N Alexander	N Dean	[22]

Results

Results by party

↓

31	17	6	1
Progressive Conservative	Liberal	New Democratic	Ind

Summary of the 2021 Nova Scotia House of Assembly election^[23]

Party		Leader	Candidates	Votes						Seats
				#	±	%	Change (pp)			2017	2021	±
	Progressive Conservative	Tim Houston	55	162,473	19,119	38.59	2.86		2.86	17	31 / 55	14
	Liberal	Iain Rankin	55	155,026	3,357	36.82	-2.65			27	17 / 55	10
	New Democratic	Gary Burrill	55	88,477	2,178	21.02	-0.49			7	7 / 55	1
	Green	Jessica Alexander	43	9,042	2,085	2.15	-0.63
	Independent		6	4,960	4,513	1.18	1.07		1.07	–	1 / 55	1
	Atlantica	Jonathan Geoffrey Dean	16	1,023	609	0.24	-0.16
Total			230	421,001		100.00%
Rejected ballots				1,711	412
Turnout				422,712	19,347	55.07%	1.72
Registered voters				767,618	11,505

Synopsis of results

2021 Nova Scotia riding flips by party

  = Newly created districts

  = Open seat

  = Turnout is above provincial average

  = Winning candidate was in previous Legislature

  = Incumbent had switched allegiance

  = Previously incumbent in another riding

  = Not incumbent; was previously elected to the Legislature

  = Incumbency arose from byelection gain

  = Other incumbents renominated

  = Previously an MP in the House of Commons of Canada

  = Multiple candidates

Results by riding - 2021 Nova Scotia general election^{[a 1]}

Riding	Region	Winning party										Turnout [a 2]	Votes[a 3]
		2017 (Redist.) [a 4]		1st place		Votes	Share	Margin #	Margin %	2nd place									Total
													PC	Lib	NDP	Grn	Atl	Ind
Annapolis	Annapolis Valley		Lib		Lib	4,231	49.62%	1,478	17.33%		PC	57.80%	2,753	4,231	1,127	306	109	–	8,526
Antigonish	Central Nova		Lib		PC	4,707	49.98%	1,710	18.16%		Lib	64.78%	4,707	2,997	1,552	128	34	–	9,418
Argyle[a 5]	South Shore		PC		PC	3,649	82.35%	3,014	68.02%		Lib	67.54%	3,649	635	63	84	–	–	4,431
Bedford Basin	Suburban Halifax		Lib		Lib	3,700	50.87%	1,826	25.11%		PC	55.61%	1,874	3,700	1,554	146	–	–	7,274
Bedford South	Suburban Halifax		Lib		Lib	3,586	45.37%	1,230	15.64%		PC	56.03%	2,338	3,568	1,763	140	55	–	7,864
Cape Breton Centre-Whitney Pier	Cape Breton		NDP		NDP	3,309	42.15%	121	1.54%		Lib	53.66%	1,281	3,188	3,309	72	–	–	7,850
Cape Breton East	Cape Breton		PC		PC	3,897	46.27%	803	9.54%		Lib	61.42%	3,897	3,094	1,432	–	–	–	8,423
Chester-St. Margaret's	South Shore		Lib		PC	3,788	40.06%	232	2.45%		Lib	62.48%	3,788	3,556	1,626	417	68	–	9,455
Clare[a 5]	Annapolis Valley		Lib		Lib	2,322	49.89%	301	6.46%		PC	67.84%	2,021	2,322	153	158	–	–	4,654
Clayton Park West	Central Halifax		Lib		Lib	3,603	47.60%	1,728	22.83%		PC	52.63%	1,875	3,603	1,836	210	46	–	7,570
Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley	Fundy-Northeast		PC		PC	4,117	55.13%	2,204	29.51%		Lib	52.36%	4,117	1,913	1,438	–	–	–	7,468
Colchester North	Fundy-Northeast		Lib		PC	4,477	53.18%	1,796	21.34%		Lib	56.67%	4,477	2,681	955	252	54	–	8,419
Cole Harbour	Dartmouth/Cole Harbour/Eastern Shore		Lib		Lib	2,118	39.75%	414	7.77%		PC	53.30%	1,704	2,118	1,431	–	75	–	5,328
Cole Harbour-Dartmouth	Dartmouth/Cole Harbour/Eastern Shore		Lib		Lib	5,144	52.24%	2,215	22.49%		PC	61.62%	2,929	5,144	1,558	215	–	–	9,846
Cumberland North	Fundy-Northeast		PC		Ind	4,235	53.87%	1,747	22.22%		Lib	58.59%	569	2,488	569	–	–	4,235	7,861
Cumberland South	Fundy-Northeast		PC		PC	3,900	68.47%	2,808	49.30%		Lib	52.12%	3,900	1,092	524[a 6]	180	–	–	5,696
Dartmouth East	Dartmouth/Cole Harbour/Eastern Shore		PC		PC	3,260	38.99%	360	4.31%		Lib	57.44%	3,260	2,900	1,974	187	41	–	8,362
Dartmouth North	Dartmouth/Cole Harbour/Eastern Shore		NDP		NDP	3,731	49.75%	1,370	18.27%		Lib	46.02%	1,278	2,361	3,731	129	–	–	7,499
Dartmouth South	Dartmouth/Cole Harbour/Eastern Shore		NDP		NDP	4,209	58.13%	2,606	35.99%		Lib	52.96%	1,262	1,603	4,209	167	–	–	7,241
Digby-Annapolis	Annapolis Valley		Lib		PC	2,636	49.55%	771	14.49%		Lib	52.98%	2,636	1,865	626	113	80	–	5,320
Eastern Passage	Dartmouth/Cole Harbour/Eastern Shore		PC		PC	2,469	44.82%	1,025	18.61%		Lib	52.65%	2,469	1,444	1,222	374	–	–	5,509
Eastern Shore	Dartmouth/Cole Harbour/Eastern Shore		Lib		PC	4,264	45.82%	1,095	11.76%		Lib	56.92%	4,264	3,169	1,618	254	–	–	9,305
Fairview-Clayton Park	Central Halifax		Lib		Lib	2,892	38.51%	105	1.40%		NDP	47.58%	1,678	2,892	2,787	153	–	–	7,510
Glace Bay-Dominion	Cape Breton		Lib		PC	2,754	34.61%	29	0.37%		NDP	59.37%	2,754	2,479	2,725	–	–	–	7,958
Guysborough–Tracadie	Central Nova		Lib		PC	3,281	63.39%	1,710	33.04%		Lib	66.81%	3,281	1,571	247	77	–	–	5,176
Halifax Armdale	Central Halifax		Lib		Lib	3,070	40.35%	477	6.27%		NDP	54.02%	1,681	3,070	2,593	202	–	63	7,609
Halifax Atlantic	Suburban Halifax		Lib		Lib	4,213	55.22%	2,473	32.41%		NDP	47.27%	1,493	4,213	1,740	183	–	–	7,629
Halifax Chebucto	Central Halifax		NDP		NDP	4,009	51.99%	1,531	19.85%		Lib	62.01%	911	2,478	4,009	313	–	–	7,711
Halifax Citadel-Sable Island	Central Halifax		Lib		NDP	3,397	42.31%	441	5.49%		Lib	48.92%	1,425	2,956	3,397	250	–	–	8,028
Halifax Needham	Central Halifax		NDP		NDP	5,308	58.96%	2,691	29.89%		Lib	53.34%	904	2,617	5,308	173	–	–	9,002
Hammonds Plains-Lucasville	Suburban Halifax		Lib		Lib	3,697	46.06%	832	10.36%		PC	57.43%	2,865	3,697	1,333	131	–	–	8,026
Hants East	Fundy-Northeast		Lib		PC	3,328	37.36%	89	1.00%		Lib	51.19%	3,328	3,239	2,142	199	–	–	8,908
Hants West	Annapolis Valley		Lib		PC	3,968	43.11%	141	1.53%		Lib	55.98%	3,968	3,827	1,015	273	121	–	9,204
Inverness	Cape Breton		PC		PC	4,833	55.85%	1,721	19.89%		Lib	61.58%	4,833	3,112	708	–	–	–	8,653
Kings North	Annapolis Valley		PC		PC	3,971	44.70%	1,369	15.41%		Lib	55.30%	3,971	2,602	1,876	391	43	–	8,883
Kings South	Annapolis Valley		Lib		Lib	4,049	44.11%	1,003	10.93%		PC	55.70%	3,046	4,049	1,808	276	–	–	9,179
Kings West	Annapolis Valley		Lib		PC	4,592	49.45%	736	7.93%		Lib	56.65%	4,592	3,856	549	216	74	–	9,287
Lunenburg	South Shore		Lib		PC	3,544	42.01%	629	7.46%		Lib	58.14%	3,544	2,915	1,750	171	57	–	8,437
Lunenburg West	South Shore		Lib		PC	4,065	44.42%	868	9.48%		Lib	55.65%	4,065	3,197	1,709	180	–	–	9,151
Northside-Westmount	Cape Breton		PC		Lib	4,030	46.86%	890	10.35%		PC	53.34%	3,140	4,030	1,430	–	–	–	8,600
Pictou Centre	Central Nova		PC		PC	4,092	55.77%	1,823	24.84%		Lib	57.07%	4,092	2,269	862	114	–	–	7,337
Pictou East	Central Nova		PC		PC	4,918	69.68%	3,333	47.22%		Lib	61.44%	4,918	1,585	500	–	55	–	7,058
Pictou West	Central Nova		PC		PC	4,487	63.62%	2,977	42.21%		Lib	62.1%	4,487	1,510	872	124	–	60	7,053
Preston[a 7]	Dartmouth/Cole Harbour/Eastern Shore		Lib		Lib	2,226	43.38%	754	14.69%		PC	46.78%	1,472	2,226	1,433	–	–	–	5,131
Queens	South Shore		PC		PC	3,627	70.37%	2,576	49.98%		Lib	58.36%	3,627	1,051	323	153	–	–	5,154
Richmond[a 5]	Cape Breton		Lib		PC	2,773	50.86%	764	14.01%		Lib	71.61%	2,773	2,009	274	–	–	396	5,452
Sackville-Cobequid	Suburban Halifax		NDP		PC	3,426	43.33%	849	10.74%		NDP	51.74%	3,426	1,701	2,577	203	–	–	7,907
Sackville-Uniacke	Suburban Halifax		PC		PC	3,104	43.82%	781	11.02%		Lib	51.44%	3,104	2,323	1,535	121	–	–	7,083
Shelburne	South Shore		PC		PC	3,905	62.56%	2,422	38.80%		Lib	54.50%	3,905	1,483	753	101	–	–	6,242
Sydney-Membertou	Cape Breton		Lib		Lib	4,561	54.27%	2,184	25.99%		NDP	52.66%	1,467	4,561	2,377	–	–	–	8,405
Timberlea-Prospect	Suburban Halifax		Lib		Lib	5,181	54.38%	2,861	30.03%		PC	55.68%	2,320	5,181	1,647	250	40	90	9,528
Truro-Bible Hill-Millbrook-Salmon River	Fundy-Northeast		NDP		PC	4,025	47.85%	1,484	17.64%		Lib	51.11%	4,025	2,541	1,398	448	–	–	8,412
Victoria-The Lakes	Cape Breton		PC		PC	3,536	54.37%	1,312	20.17%		Lib	51.50%	3,536	2,224	627	–	–	116	6,503
Waverley-Fall River-Beaver Bank	Suburban Halifax		PC		PC	3,938	40.38%	392	4.02%		Lib	56.55%	3,938	3,546	1,581	617	71	–	9,753
Yarmouth	South Shore		Lib		Lib	4,344	56.32%	1,488	19.29%		PC	55.17%	2,856	4,344	322	191	–	–	7,713

1. "Provincial General Election 2021-08-17 - Official Results". electionsns.ca. Elections Nova Scotia. Retrieved August 19, 2021.
2. including spoilt ballots
3. Minor political parties receiving less than 1% of the national popular vote are aggregated under "Other"; independent candidates are aggregated separately
4. effect of 2019 restribution on previous election results, per "Transposition of Votes from the 2017 Provincial General Election to 2019 Electoral District Boundaries" (PDF). Elections Nova Scotia. April 12, 2021.
5. Historically Acadian riding
6. Larry Duchesne was previously a member of the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island and leader of the Prince Edward Island New Democratic Party.
7. Historically Black riding

Summary analysis

Elections to the 64th Legislature of Nova Scotia – seats won/lost by party, 2017–2021
(after applying effect of redistribution)

Party		2017 (redist.)	Gain from (loss to)							2021
			Lib		PC		NDP		Ind
	Progressive Conservative	18	13	(1)			2		(1)	31
	Liberal	30			1	(13)		(1)		17
	New Democratic	7	1			(2)				6
	Independent	–			1					1
Total		55	14	(1)	2	(15)	2	(1)	(1)	55

Incumbents not running for reelection

The following MLAs announced that they would not run in the 2021 general election:

Independent

• Hugh MacKay (Chester-St. Margaret's)^[24]

Liberal Party

• Karen Casey (Colchester North)^[25]
• Keith Colwell (Preston-Dartmouth)^[26]
• Lena Diab (Halifax Armdale)^[27]
• Mark Furey (Lunenburg West)^[28]
• Leo Glavine (Kings West)^[29]
• Bill Horne (Waverley-Fall River-Beaver Bank)
• Geoff MacLellan (Glace Bay)^[30]
• Chuck Porter (Hants West)^[31]
• Gordon Wilson (Clare-Digby)^[32]

New Democratic Party

• Lisa Roberts (Halifax Needham)^[33]

Candidates by constituency

Legend
bold denotes party leader
† denotes an incumbent who is not running for re-election or was defeated in nomination contest

NOTE: Candidates' names are as registered with Elections Nova Scotia^[34]

Annapolis Valley

Electoral district	Candidates										Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		NDP		Green		Atlantica
Annapolis		Carman Kerr 4,231 49.62%		Jennifer Ehrenfeld-Poole 2,753 32.29%		Cheryl Burbidge 1,127 13.22%		Krista Grear 306 3.59%		Mark Robertson 109 1.28%		Vacant
Clare		Ronnie LeBlanc 2,322 49.89%		Carl Deveau 2,021 43.43%		Cameron Pye 153 3.29%		Claire McDonald 158 3.39%				Gordon Wilson† Clare-Digby
Digby-Annapolis		Jimmy MacAlpine 1,865 35.06%		Jill Balser 2,636 49.55%		Michael Carty 626 11.77%		Jessica Walker 113 2.12%		Tyler Ducharme 80 1.50%		New riding
Hants West		Brian Casey 3,827 41.58%		Melissa Sheehy-Richard 3,968 43.11%		Caet Moir 1,015 11.03%		Jenn Kang 273 2.97%		Gordon J. Berry 121 1.31%		Chuck Porter†
Kings North		Geof Turner 2,602 29.29%		John Lohr 3,971 44.70%		Erin Patterson 1,876 21.12%		Doug Hickman 391 4.40%		Paul Dunn 43 0.48%		John Lohr
Kings South		Keith Irving 4,049 44.11%		Derrick Kimball 3,046 33.18%		Mercedes Brian 1,808 19.70%		Barry Leslie 276 3.01%				Keith Irving
Kings West		Emily Lutz 3,856 41.52%		Chris Palmer 4,592 49.45%		Jason Langille 549 5.91%		Sue Earle 216 2.33%		Rick Mehta 74 0.80%		Leo Glavine†

South Shore

Electoral district	Candidates										Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		NDP		Green		Atlantica
Argyle		Nick d'Entremont 635 14.33%		Colton LeBlanc 3,649 82.35%		Robin Smith 63 1.42%		Corey Clamp 84 1.90%				Colton LeBlanc Argyle-Barrington
Chester-St. Margaret's		Jacob Killawee 3,556 37.61%		Danielle Barkhouse 3,788 40.06%		Amy Stewart Reitsma 1,626 17.20%		Jessica Alexander 417 4.41%		Steven Foster 68 0.72%		Hugh MacKay†
Lunenburg		Suzanne Lohnes-Croft 2,915 34.55%		Susan Corkum-Greek 3,544 42.01%		Alison Smith 1,750 20.74%		Thomas Trappenberg 171 2.03%		John Giannakos 57 0.68%		Suzanne Lohnes-Croft
Lunenburg West		Jennifer Naugler 3,197 34.94%		Becky Druhan 4,065 44.42%		Merydie Ross 1,709 18.68%		Eric Wade 180 1.97%				Mark Furey†
Queens		Susan MacLeod 1,051 20.39%		Kim Masland 3,627 70.37%		Mary Dahr 323 6.27%		Brian Muldoon 153 2.97%				Kim Masland Queens-Shelburne
Shelburne		Penny Smith 1,483 23.76%		Nolan Young 3,905 62.56%		Darren Stoddard 753 12.06%		Steve Hirchak 101 1.62%				New riding
Yarmouth		Zach Churchill 4,344 56.32%		Candice Clairmont 2,856 37.03%		SJ Rogers 322 4.17%		Adam Randall 191 2.48%				Zach Churchill

Fundy-Northeast

Electoral district	Candidates												Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		NDP		Green		Atlantica		Independent
Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley		Rhonda MacLellan 1,913 25.62%		Larry Harrison 4,117 55.13%		Janet Moulton 1,438 19.26%								Larry Harrison
Colchester North		Merlyn Smith 2,681 31.84%		Tom Taggart 4,477 53.18%		Sean Foley 955 11.34%		Ivan Drouin 252 2.99%		Stephan Sante 54 0.64%				Karen Casey†
Cumberland North		Bill Casey 2,488 31.65%		David Wightman 569 7.24%		Lauren Skabar 569 7.24%						Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin 4,235 53.87%		Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin
Cumberland South		Rollie Lawless 1,092 19.17%		Tory Rushton 3,900 68.47%		Larry Duchesne 524 9.20%		Nicholas Hendren 180 3.16%						Tory Rushton
Hants East		Michael Blois 3,239 36.36%		John A. MacDonald 3,328 37.36%		Abby Cameron 2,142 24.05%		Simon Greenough 199 2.23%						Vacant
Truro-Bible Hill-Millbrook-Salmon River		Tamara Tynes Powell 2,541 30.21%		Dave Ritcey 4,025 47.85%		Darlene DeAdder 1,398 16.62%		Shaun Trainor 448 5.33%						Dave Ritcey

Central Halifax

Electoral district	Candidates												Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		NDP		Green		Atlantica		Independent
Clayton Park West		Rafah DiCostanzo 3,603 47.60%		Nargis DeMolitor 1,875 24.77%		Reena Davis 1,836 24.25%		Richard Zurawski 210 2.77%		Helen Lau 46 0.61%				Rafah DiCostanzo
Fairview-Clayton Park		Patricia Arab 2,892 38.51%		Nicole Mosher 1,678 22.34%		Joanne Hussey 2,787 37.11%		Sheila Richardson 153 2.04%						Patricia Arab
Halifax Armdale		Ali Duale 3,070 40.35%		Richard MacLean 1,681 22.09%		Julie Melanson 2,593 34.08%		Jo-Ann Roberts 202 2.65%				Stephen Chafe 63 0.83%		Lena Diab†
Halifax Chebucto		Jackie Kinley 2,478 32.14%		John Wesley Chisholm 911 11.81%		Gary Burrill 4,009 51.99%		Lily Barraclough 313 4.06%						Gary Burrill
Halifax Citadel-Sable Island		Labi Kousoulis 2,956 36.82%		Sheri Morgan 1,425 17.75%		Lisa Lachance 3,397 42.31%		Noah Hollis 250 3.11%						Labi Kousoulis
Halifax Needham		Colin Coady 2,617 29.07%		Scott Ellis 904 10.04%		Suzy Hansen 5,308 58.96%		Kai Trappenberg 173 1.92%						Lisa Roberts†

Suburban Halifax

Electoral district	Candidates												Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		NDP		Green		Atlantica		Independent
Bedford Basin		Kelly Regan 3,700 50.87%		Nick Driscoll 1,874 25.76%		Jacob Wilson 1,554 21.36%		Madeline Taylor 146 2.01%						Kelly Regan Bedford
Bedford South		Braedon Clark 3,568 45.37%		Sura Hadad 2,338 29.73%		David Paterson 1,763 22.42%		Ron G. Parker 140 1.78%		Alan Nightingale 55 0.70%				New riding
Halifax Atlantic		Brendan Maguire 4,213 55.22%		Tim Cranston 1,493 19.57%		Shauna Hatt 1,740 22.81%		Sarah Weston 183 2.40%						Brendan Maguire
Hammonds Plains-Lucasville		Ben Jessome 3,697 46.06%		Julie Chaisson 2,865 35.70%		Angela Downey 1,333 16.61%		Mark Embrett 131 1.63%						Ben Jessome
Sackville-Cobequid		Mary LeRoy 1,701 21.51%		Steve Craig 3,426 43.33%		Lara Fawthrop 2,577 32.59%		Ian Dawson 203 2.57%						Steve Craig
Sackville-Uniacke		Donalda MacIsaac 2,323 32.80%		Brad Johns 3,104 43.82%		Thomas Hill 1,535 21.67%		Carson LeQuesne 121 1.71%						Brad Johns Sackville-Beaver Bank
Timberlea-Prospect		Iain Rankin 5,181 54.38%		Bill Healy 2,320 24.35%		Raymond Theriault 1,647 17.29%		Harry Ward 250 2.62%		Dessire G. Miari 40 0.42%		Dawn Edith Penney 90 0.94%		Iain Rankin
Waverley-Fall River-Beaver Bank		Marni Tuttle 3,546 36.36%		Brian Wong 3,938 40.38%		Christina McCarron 1,581 16.21%		Anthony Edmonds 617 6.33%		Shawn Whitford 71 0.73%				Bill Horne†

Dartmouth/Cole Harbour/Eastern Shore

Electoral district	Candidates										Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		NDP		Green		Atlantica
Cole Harbour		Tony Ince 2,118 39.75%		Darryl Johnson 1,704 31.98%		Jerome Lagmay 1,431 26.86%				Chris Kinnie 75 1.41%		Tony Ince Cole Harbour-Portland Valley
Cole Harbour-Dartmouth		Lorelei Nicoll 5,144 52.24%		Karina Sanford 2,929 29.75%		Melody Pentland 1,558 15.82%		Rana Zaman 215 2.18%				New riding
Dartmouth East		D'Arcy Poultney 2,900 34.68%		Tim Halman 3,260 38.99%		Tyler J. Colbourne 1,974 23.61%		Sara Adams 187 2.24%		Chris Bowie 41 0.49%		Tim Halman
Dartmouth North		Pam Cooley 2,361 31.48%		Lisa Coates 1,278 17.04%		Susan Leblanc 3,731 49.75%		Carolyn Marshall 129 1.72%				Susan Leblanc
Dartmouth South		Lesley MacKay 1,603 22.14%		Chris Curtis 1,262 17.43%		Claudia Chender 4,209 58.13%		Skylar Martini 167 2.31%				Claudia Chender
Eastern Passage		Joyce Treen 1,444 26.21%		Barbara Adams 2,469 44.82%		Tammy Jakeman 1,222 22.18%		Corey Myers 374 6.79%				Barbara Adams Cole Harbour-Eastern Passage
Eastern Shore		Kevin Murphy 3,169 34.06%		Kent Smith 4,264 45.82%		Deirdre Dwyer 1,618 17.39%		Cheryl Atkinson 254 2.73%				Kevin Murphy
Preston		Angela Simmonds 2,226 43.38%		Archy Beals 1,472 28.69%		Colter C.C. Simmonds 1,433 27.93%						Keith Colwell† Preston-Dartmouth

Central Nova

Electoral district	Candidates												Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		NDP		Green		Atlantica		Independent
Antigonish		Randy Delorey 2,997 31.82%		Michelle Thompson 4,707 49.98%		Moraig MacGillivray 1,552 16.48%		Will Fraser 128 1.36%		Ryan Smyth 34 0.36%				Randy Delorey
Guysborough-Tracadie		Lloyd Hines 1,571 30.35%		Greg Morrow 3,281 63.39%		Matt Stickland 247 4.77%		Gabe Bruce 77 1.49%						Lloyd Hines Guysborough-Eastern Shore-Tracadie
Pictou Centre		Jim McKenna 2,269 30.93%		Pat Dunn 4,092 55.77%		Vernon Theriault 862 11.75%		Laura Moore 114 1.55%						Pat Dunn
Pictou East		Joe MacDonald 1,585 22.46%		Tim Houston 4,918 69.68%		Joy Polley 500 7.08%				Jonathan Geoffrey Dean 55 0.78%				Tim Houston
Pictou West		Mary Wooldridge-Elliott 1,510 21.41%		Karla MacFarlane 4,487 63.62%		Rick Parker 872 12.36%		Clare Brett 124 1.76%				John A. Clark 60 0.85%		Karla MacFarlane

Cape Breton

Electoral district	Candidates										Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		NDP		Green		Independent
Cape Breton Centre-Whitney Pier		Michelle Wilson 3,188 40.61%		Bryden Mombourquette 1,281 16.32%		Kendra Coombes 3,309 42.15%		Robert Hussey 72 0.92%				Kendra Coombes Cape Breton Centre
Cape Breton East		Heather Peters 3,094 36.73%		Brian Comer 3,897 46.27%		Barbara Beaton 1,432 17.00%						Brian Comer Sydney River-Mira-Louisbourg
Glace Bay-Dominion		John John McCarthy 2,479 31.15%		John White 2,754 34.61%		John Morgan 2,725 34.24%						Geoff MacLellan† Glace Bay
Inverness		Damian MacInnis 3,112 35.96%		Allan MacMaster 4,833 55.85%		Joanna Clark 708 8.18%						Allan MacMaster
Northside-Westmount		Fred Tilley 4,030 46.86%		Murray Ryan 3,140 36.51%		Jennifer Morrison 1,430 16.63%						Murray Ryan
Richmond		Matt Haley 2,009 36.85%		Trevor Boudreau 2,773 50.86%		Bryson Syliboy 274 5.03%				Alana Paon 396 7.26%		Alana Paon Cape Breton-Richmond
Sydney-Membertou		Derek Mombourquette 4,561 54.27%		Pauline Singer 1,467 17.45%		Madonna Doucette 2,377 28.28%						Derek Mombourquette Sydney-Whitney Pier
Victoria-The Lakes		Nadine Bernard 2,224 34.20%		Keith Bain 3,536 54.37%		Adrianna MacKinnon 627 9.64%				Stemer MacLeod 116 1.78%		Keith Bain

Opinion polls

Voting intentions in Nova Scotia since the 2017 election

Polling Firm	Poll Published	Link	Liberal	PC	NDP	Green	Lead
Election Results	August 17, 2021	N/A	36.67	38.44	20.93	2.14	1.77
Forum Research	August 16, 2021	HTML	39	36	21	3	3
Mainstreet Research	August 16, 2021	HTML	38	36	21	3	2
Narrative Research	August 11, 2021	PDF Archived August 11, 2021, at the Wayback Machine	40	31	27	2	9
Leger	August 2, 2021	PDF	42	32	20	5	10
Mainstreet Research	July 22, 2021	HTML	42	30	22	4	12
Premier Iain Rankin calls an election to be held on August 17, 2021 (July 17, 2021)
Angus Reid	June 9, 2021	HTML	41	33	20	4	8
Narrative Research	June 3, 2021	HTML	52	24	19	5	28
Narrative Research	March 9, 2021	HTML	50	26	18	6	24
MQO Research	February 25, 2021	HTML	51	27	15	4	24
Iain Rankin is sworn in as Premier of Nova Scotia (February 23, 2021)
Iain Rankin is elected leader of the Liberal Party (February 6, 2021)
Angus Reid	December 10, 2020	HTML	37	29	25	7	8
Narrative Research	December 8, 2020	HTML	49	25	21	5	24
Narrative Research	September 3, 2020	HTML	47	27	19	6	20
Stephen McNeil announces his intention to resign as leader of the Liberal Party and Premier of Nova Scotia (August 6, 2020)
Angus Reid	June 8, 2020	HTML	42	31	19	7	11
Narrative Research	May 25, 2020	HTML	57	22	15	6	35
Innovative Research Group	May 12, 2020	PDF	49	24	18	9	25
Narrative Research	March 12, 2020	HTML	43	27	21	10	16
MQO Research	March 3, 2020	PDF	34	32	22	9	2
Narrative Research	December 10, 2019	HTML	42	26	21	9	16
MQO Research	August 31, 2019	PDF	35	35	20	8	Tie
Narrative Research	July 31–August 22, 2019	PDF[permanent dead link‍]	39	28	16	15	11
Narrative Research	June 13, 2019	HTML	31	33	21	13	2
MQO Research	May 13, 2019	PDF	30	38	18	12	8
Corporate Research Associates	March 6, 2019	PDF Archived March 7, 2019, at the Wayback Machine	37	34	24	5	3
MQO Research	February 13, 2019	PDF	41	33	19	7	8
Mainstreet Research	January 30, 2019	HTML	32.1	31.0	25.2	8.1	1.1
Corporate Research Associates	December 12, 2018	PDF Archived December 15, 2018, at the Wayback Machine	38	31	24	6	7
Mainstreet Research	November 16, 2018	HTML	32.7	33.2	20.7	8.9	0.5
MQO Research	November 8, 2018	PDF	42	36	15	6	6
Tim Houston is elected leader of the Progressive Conservative Party (October 27, 2018)
Corporate Research Associates	September 6, 2018	PDF Archived September 6, 2018, at the Wayback Machine	43	32	21	4	11
MQO Research	August 9, 2018	PDF	45	31	20	4	14
Mainstreet Research	July 17, 2018	HTML	36.7	33.8	22.9	5	2.9
Corporate Research Associates	June 6, 2018	PDF[permanent dead link‍]	45	29	23	3	16
MQO Research	May 11, 2018	PDF	40	31	23	4	9
Mainstreet Research	April 18, 2018	HTML	40.2	34.7	17.3	5.6	5.5
Corporate Research Associates	March 8, 2018	PDF Archived March 9, 2018, at the Wayback Machine	37	34	25	4	3
Mainstreet Research	January 25, 2018	HTML	40.6	38.5	15.7	5.2	2.1
MQO Research	January 24, 2018	PDF	47	30	17	5	17
Corporate Research Associates	December 6, 2017	PDF Archived December 7, 2017, at the Wayback Machine	38	29	27	5	9
MQO Research	October 24, 2017	PDF	44	32	19	4	12
Corporate Research Associates	September 13, 2017	PDF Archived September 13, 2017, at the Wayback Machine	45	29	22	4	16
MQO Research	July 27, 2017	PDF	46	30	21	3	16
Corporate Research Associates	June 7, 2017	PDF Archived July 30, 2017, at the Wayback Machine	40	29	28	2	11
Election 2017	May 30, 2017	HTML	39.5	35.7	21.5	2.8	3.8

References

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