Progressive Conservative Leader Danny Williams trounced his rivals in the Newfoundland and Labrador election Tuesday, easily winning his second straight majority government.
"Tonight's victory isn't a victory for Progressive Conservatives, it's a victory for Newfoundland and Labrador," he told cheering supporters.
"We're on the cusp of greatness here," he added. "Finally, we're going to get what we deserve. We're going to be masters of our destiny, we're going to be self-reliant, and in the next two years we're going to be a 'have' province in this Confederation."
The Progressive Conservatives won in 43 ridings, while the Liberals secured three and NDP Leader Lorraine Michael won the only seat for her party.
Liberal Leader Gerry Reid lost his own seat -- by a margin of just seven votes. He had represented the northern district of The Isles of Notre Dame since 1996.
In a speech to supporters, Reid said the Liberals would continue to press on, and that some of the quality candidates would return in the future.
Headed into the election, the Tories had 34 seats, the Liberals had 11, the NDP one and there were two vacancies.
Williams had earlier said that anything less than a majority government would have been seen as a loss.
He has gained national media attention for his feuds with Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and Tuesday's resounding victory will likely mean more clashes with the federal government.
The premier has said Harper's altered equalization formula cuts back revenues from N.L. -- a claim the prime minister has denied.
Williams, a Rhodes scholar and successful businessman, had been widely expected to win the election.
Just before the 22-day campaign began, he had forged a deal with various energy companies to develop the $5-billion Hebron offshore oil project.
Williams drafted a "Memorandum of Understanding" that included a $110 million investment by the province in return for a 4.9 per cent equity stake in the project.
The province also negotiated an improved royalty regime that will see projected revenues for the province of $16 billion over the 25-year life of the project -- assuming oil is in the $70-per-barrel range.
His closest competition in the election was Reid, although for the first time in 35 years, the Liberals were unable to run a candidate in every riding.
One Liberal hopeful died of a heart-attack, while two others became ill.
"That was the hardest part of our campaign," Reid told The Canadian Press. "We ran the best campaign we could with what we had."
Reid focused on the fisheries and other rural issues, and said Williams had done little to stem the flow of people leaving the province -- at least 7,000 N.L. residents have left since 2001, while the population is 505,000.
NDP Leader Lorraine Michael had hoped her party would win at least one more seat, but told campaign workers they should be proud.
"I don't care what the numbers show, I know how hard all of our volunteers worked and I know how hard our candidates worked," she told supporters in the St. John's-area district of Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.
