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, 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. On May 25, Premier of New Brunswick David Alward announced that the by-election would be held on June 25.
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.
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. While none of the Liberal leadership candidates ran, NDP leader Cardy was acclaimed by his party. The People's Alliance of New Brunswick announced that they will not contest the election and endorsed Cardy's candidacy.
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.
Sharon Murphy is the New Brunswick Green Party candidate and Marjorie MacMurray is running as an independent.
Read more about this topic: Rothesay (electoral District)