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Premier Pauline Marois was still in a close battle to hold her own seat.

Original story:

The Quebec Liberal Party, led by Philippe Couillard, has unseated the separatist Parti Quebecois government in Mondays provincial election, Canadian media reported less than an hour after the polls closed at 8 p.m. EDT.

The Liberals had more than 45 percent of the popular vote in early returns, CTV News reported, compared with around 30 percent for the incumbent PQ. The Coalition for Quebec's Future (CAQ) was in third place.

In order to form a majority government in Quebec, a party has to win 63 of the 125 provincial ridings. The CBC projected an outright majority for the Liberals before 9 p.m.

After an acrimonious 33-day campaign, the separatist Parti Quebecois and Premier Pauline Marois are on their way out.

The PQs controversial Quebec values charter and push for sovereignty did not translate into enough votes for the party to hold on to its minority government.

Opinion polls had been putting the Liberals in the lead for days leading up to election day, but Marois remained defiant and optimistic until the end, telling reporters earlier Monday that her party would win.

Its a beautiful day, Marois said outside the polls in her riding of Charlevoix-Cote-de-Beaupre, according to CTV. It was unclear in early returns if she had kept her own seat.

The PQ campaign was largely derailed when high-profile candidate Pierre Karl Peladeau, a media mogul, announced that he had entered politics with the goal of creating an independent Quebec.

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Quebec Liberals Oust Separatist Parti Quebecois In Provincial Election

Sonja Puzic, CTVNews.ca Published Monday, April 7, 2014 6:36AM EDT Last Updated Tuesday, April 8, 2014 8:28AM EDT

Philippe Couillards Liberals have won the Quebec election with a majority government, crushing the sovereigntist Parti Quebecois and Premier Pauline Marois.

Liberal candidates won in 70 of the province's ridings, the Parti Quebecois won 30, the Coalition Avenir Quebec took 22 and Quebec Solidaire picked up three. The PQ got about 25 per cent of the popular vote, its lowest share since 1970.

In a stunning turn of events, Marois lost her own seat in Charlevoix-Cote-de-Beaupre to Liberal Caroline Simard.

Couillard, who was a neurosurgeon before he entered politics, easily won his riding of Roberval, defeating PQ incumbent Denis Trottier.

Taking the stage at Liberal headquarters after most of the ballots had been counted, Couillard vowed to run an inclusive and stable government that represents the interests of all Quebecers.

Our language, our flag belongs to all Quebecers, he said.

Addressing the provinces anglophones in English, Couillard said: We are all Quebecers. We should all focus on what brings us together. What unites us makes us stronger.

He later added in French: Division is over; reconciliation has arrived.

In her concession speech, Marois announced she will step down as PQ leader and ensure an orderly transition.

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CTV projection: Liberals win Quebec election

Posted:Today Updated: 12:08 AM Fears of another referendum on independence from Canada could have motivated voters.

By Sean Farrell Associated Press

And Rob Gillies

MONTREAL The Liberal Party won Quebecs legislative elections Monday, in a crushing defeat for the main separatist party and major setback for the cause of independence in the French-speaking province.

Official results Monday showed the Liberals, staunch supporters of Canadian unity, won or were leading the race in about 75 of the of National Assemblys 125 seats, outstripping the separatist Parti Quebecois.

Those results will allow the Liberals to form a majority government, less than 18 months after voters had booted the party from power for the first time in nine years.

Quebec Premier Pauline Marois, who led a minority government, called the snap elections last month in the hopes of securing a majority for her PQ party. But the campaign stirred up speculation that a PQ majority would ultimately lead to another referendum on independence from Canada, an idea that has lacked support in recent years.

Fears of a referendum galvanized supporters of the Liberals.

Marois had tried to mute talk of another referendum on independence. She had hoped instead to make the election about the PQs proposed charter of values, a controversial but popular law that would ban public employees from wearing Muslim headscarves and other overt religious symbols.

But the strategy backfired early in the campaign when one PQ candidate, multi-millionaire media baron Pierre Karl Peladeau, burst onto the scene with a fist-pumping declaration of his commitment to make Quebec a country.

The rest is here:

Liberals win Quebec vote

Democrats facing a tough midterm election need someone to fire up the base. Joe Biden, on Twitter and on the trail, can be good at that. But there's a bigger social media powerhouse out there.

Joe Biden is back on Twitter just in time to fire up Democrats for 2014. On Monday morning he suddenly reactivated his @JoeBiden account on the mini-blog social media site, which had gone radio silent following a happy holidays tweet in 2012.

Washington Editor

Peter Grier is The Christian Science Monitor's Washington editor. In this capacity, he helps direct coverage for the paper on most news events in the nation's capital.

Subscribe Today to the Monitor

Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of The Christian Science Monitor Weekly Digital Edition

Dusting off the Twitter handle for a big midterm election year. Lets get to it folks! the US vice president tweeted.

The post was signed Joe, so Biden himself allegedly wrote it. Unsigned posts are the work of the Democratic Party, since its a campaign-related account.

In a way, Biden never really left Twitter. His official vice presidential handle, @VP, has stayed up throughout the Obama administration. But the official feed has to remain pretty strait-laced, while the campaign site gets to loosen up. So in that sense its the real Joe thats being resurrected.

As the Washington Posts own un-tight political analyst Chris Cillizza wrote today, This is going to be good. Then he ran through all his favorite Joe Biden Twitter memes (twemes?) from years past, such as photos of Biden in aviator sunglasses, and Joe Biden carrying pumpkins.

The rest is here:

Joe Biden returns to Twitter. Democrats' 2014 secret weapon? (+video)

Democrats facing a tough midterm election need someone to fire up the base. Joe Biden, on Twitter and on the trail, can be good at that. But there's a bigger social media powerhouse out there.

Joe Biden is back on Twitter just in time to fire up Democrats for 2014. On Monday morning he suddenly reactivated his @JoeBiden account on the mini-blog social media site, which had gone radio silent following a happy holidays tweet in 2012.

Washington Editor

Peter Grier is The Christian Science Monitor's Washington editor. In this capacity, he helps direct coverage for the paper on most news events in the nation's capital.

Subscribe Today to the Monitor

Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of The Christian Science Monitor Weekly Digital Edition

Dusting off the Twitter handle for a big midterm election year. Lets get to it folks! the US vice president tweeted.

The post was signed Joe, so Biden himself allegedly wrote it. Unsigned posts are the work of the Democratic Party, since its a campaign-related account.

In a way, Biden never really left Twitter. His official vice presidential handle, @VP, has stayed up throughout the Obama administration. But the official feed has to remain pretty strait-laced, while the campaign site gets to loosen up. So in that sense its the real Joe thats being resurrected.

As the Washington Posts own un-tight political analyst Chris Cillizza wrote today, This is going to be good. Then he ran through all his favorite Joe Biden Twitter memes (twemes?) from years past, such as photos of Biden in aviator sunglasses, and Joe Biden carrying pumpkins.

More here:

Joe Biden returns to Twitter. Democrats' 2014 secret weapon?