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Hants East

Nova Scotia electoral district
Provincial electoral district
Legislature	Nova Scotia House of Assembly
MLA	John A. MacDonald Progressive Conservative
District created	1949
First contested	1949
Last contested	2024
Demographics
Population (2011)	23,266
Electors	17,303
Area (km²)	1,653
Pop. density (per km²)	14.1
Census division(s)	Hants County

Hants East is a provincial electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that elects one member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly.

Its Member of the Legislative Assembly since 2021 has been John A. MacDonald of the Progressive Conservative Party.

The district has existed since 1949. Earlier, it and Hants West were together in Hants.

The land area of Hants East is 1,653 km² (638 sq mi).^[1]

This riding has elected the following members of the Legislative Assembly:

Hants East
Legislature	Years	Member		Party
Riding created from Hants
44th	1949–1953		Ernest Ettinger	Progressive Conservative
45th	1953–1956		Alfred E. Reid	Liberal
46th	1956–1960		Ernest Ettinger	Progressive Conservative
47th	1960–1962
	1962–1963		Albert Ettinger
48th	1963–1967
49th	1967–1970
50th	1970–1974		Jack Hawkins	Liberal
51st	1974–1978
52nd	1978–1981		G. Patrick Hunt	Progressive Conservative
53rd	1981–1984		Jack Hawkins	Liberal
54th	1984–1988		Cora Etter	Progressive Conservative
55th	1988–1993		Jack Hawkins	Liberal
56th	1993–1998		Bob Carruthers
57th	1998–1999		John MacDonell	New Democratic
58th	1999–2003
59th	2003–2006
60th	2006–2009
61st	2009–2013
62nd	2013–2017		Margaret Miller	Liberal
63rd	2017–2021
64th	2021–2024		John A. MacDonald	Progressive Conservative
65th	2024–present

v t e 2024 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	John A. MacDonald	4,614	62.7%
	New Democratic	Abby Cameron	1,696	23.0%
	Liberal	Shannon MacWilliam	1,050	14.3%
Total valid votes
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			7,360
Eligible voters
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing
Source: Elections Nova Scotia[2]

v t e 2021 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Progressive Conservative	John A. MacDonald	3,328	37.36	+2.92	$28,841.01
	Liberal	Michael Blois	3,239	36.36	-7.52	$39,363.22
	New Democratic	Abby Cameron	2,142	24.05	+7.18	$33,859.54
	Green	Simon Greenough	199	2.23	-2.58	$506.76
Total valid votes/expense limit			8,908	99.64	–	$99,761.07
Total rejected ballots			32	0.36
Turnout			8,940	51.19
Eligible voters			17,464
	Progressive Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing		+5.22
Source: Elections Nova Scotia[3]

2017 provincial election redistributed results[4]
Party		Vote	%
	Liberal	3,500	43.88
	Progressive Conservative	2,747	34.44
	New Democratic	1,345	16.86
	Green	384	4.81

v t e 2017 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Margaret Miller	3,923	43.66	-3.73
	Progressive Conservative	John A. MacDonald	3,104	34.55	+17.78
	New Democratic	Liam Crouse	1,508	16.79	-19.05
	Green	Jenn Kang	449	4.99
Total valid votes			8,984	100
Total rejected ballots			42
Turnout			9,026	48.10
Eligible voters			18,765
	Liberal hold		Swing		-10.76
Source: Elections Nova Scotia[5][6]

2013 Nova Scotia general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Margaret Miller	4,512	47.39
	New Democratic Party	John MacDonell	3,412	35.84
	Progressive Conservative	Kim Allan Williams	1,597	16.77

2009 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	John MacDonell	6,052	64.96%	11.82%
	Progressive Conservative	Todd Williams	1,567	16.82%	-13.80%
	Liberal	Maurice Rees	1,467	15.75%	1.80%
	Green	Emerich Winkler	231	2.48%	0.18%
Total			9,317	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Hants East" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

2006 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	John MacDonell	4,712	53.13%	-3.84%
	Progressive Conservative	Wayne Fiander	2,715	30.62%	11.08%
	Liberal	Malcolm A. MacKay	1,237	13.95%	-8.28%
	Green	Michael Hartian	204	2.30%	–
Total			8,868	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Hants East" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

2003 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	John MacDonell	4,783	56.97%	13.72%
	Liberal	Larry Matthews	1,866	22.23%	-1.11%
	Progressive Conservative	Mary Lou LeRoy	1,640	19.54%	-13.88%
	Nova Scotia Party	Kent Smith	106	1.26%	–
Total			8,395	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Hants East" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1999 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	John MacDonell	3,985	43.25%	-0.41%
	Progressive Conservative	Reese Morash	3,079	33.42%	12.40%
	Liberal	Sara Stewart	2,150	23.33%	-11.98%
Total			9,214	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Hants East" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1998 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	John MacDonell	4,175	43.66%	25.06%
	Liberal	Ken Smith	3,377	35.32%	-8.65%
	Progressive Conservative	Lawrin Armstrong	2,010	21.02%	-16.41%
Total			9,562	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Hants East" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1993 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Bob Carruthers	4,295	43.97%	-3.12%
	Progressive Conservative	Stephen MacKeil	3,657	37.43%	-4.16%
	New Democratic	Terry MacLean	1,817	18.60%	7.28%
Total			9,769	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Hants East" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1988 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Jack Hawkins	4,502	47.09%	5.52%
	Progressive Conservative	Cora Etter	3,977	41.60%	-6.98%
	New Democratic	Richard Preeper	1,082	11.32%	1.46%
Total			9,561	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Hants East" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1984 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Cora Etter	3,730	48.57%	10.19%
	Liberal	Jack Hawkins	3,192	41.57%	2.44%
	New Democratic	Herbert H. Radley	757	9.86%	-12.62%
Total			7,679	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Hants East" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1981 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Jack Hawkins	3,041	39.13%	-3.02%
	Progressive Conservative	G. Patrick Hunt	2,983	38.39%	-13.25%
	New Democratic	Harry McNeil	1,747	22.48%	16.26%
Total			7,771	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Hants East" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1978 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	G. Patrick Hunt	4,035	51.63%	11.24%
	Liberal	Jack Hawkins	3,294	42.15%	-7.73%
	New Democratic	Clair White	486	6.22%	-2.02%
Total			7,815	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Hants East" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1974 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Jack Hawkins	3,322	49.88%	-2.85%
	Progressive Conservative	Albert J. Ettinger	2,690	40.39%	-6.88%
	New Democratic	Claire White	549	8.24%	–
	Independent	John G. Stanhope Sr.	99	1.49%	–
Total			6,660	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Hants East" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1970 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Jack Hawkins	3,115	52.73%	4.80%
	Progressive Conservative	Albert J. Ettinger	2,793	47.27%	-4.80%
Total			5,908	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Hants East" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1967 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Albert J. Ettinger	2,697	52.08%	-0.78%
	Liberal	Norman E. Casey	2,482	47.92%	2.46%
Total			5,179	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Hants East" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1963 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Albert J. Ettinger	2,739	52.86%	3.36%
	Liberal	George E. Fraser	2,356	45.47%	0.43%
	New Democratic	Ralph Loomer	87	1.68%	–
Total			5,182	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Hants East" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1960 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Ernest M. Ettinger	2,426	49.50%	-0.46%
	Liberal	Carl Spencer Grant	2,207	45.03%	-3.88%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Alfred James Scothorn	268	5.47%	4.34%
Total			4,901	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Hants East" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1956 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Ernest M. Ettinger	2,392	49.96%	-0.03%
	Liberal	Arthur W. MacKenzie	2,342	48.91%	-1.10%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Malcolm E. Wheadon	54	1.13%	–
Total			4,788	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Hants East" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1953 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Alfred E. Reid	2,251	50.01%	3.39%
	Progressive Conservative	Ernest M. Ettinger	2,250	49.99%	–
Total			4,501	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Hants East" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1949 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal–Conservative	Ernest M. Ettinger	2,097	47.25%	–
	Liberal	Robert A. MacLellan	2,069	46.62%	–
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Johnston B. Hart	272	6.13%	–
Total			4,438	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Hants East" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

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