# Richmond—Arthabaska

Richmond—Arthabaska is a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1997.

## Geography

The riding, north of the city of Sherbrooke, straddles the Quebec regions of Centre-du-Québec and Estrie. It consists of the Regional County Municipalities (RCM) of Les Sources and Arthabaska and the centre of the RCM of Le Val-Saint-François. It includes in particular the towns of Victoriaville and Val-des-Sources.
The neighbouring ridings are Drummond, Bas-Richelieu—Nicolet—Bécancour, Mégantic—L'Érable, Compton—Stanstead, Sherbrooke, Brome—Missisquoi, and Shefford.
Its population is 100,116, including 82,663 voters, and its area is 3,563 km$^2$.

## History

The riding was created in 1996 from portions of Drummond, Richmond—Wolfe, Compton—Stanstead and Lotbinière—L'Érable ridings.
There were no territory changes to this riding from the 2012 electoral redistribution.

### Members of Parliament

This riding has elected the following members of Parliament:
| Parliament | Years | Member | Party |
| Richmond—Arthabaska Riding created from Drummond, Richmond—Wolfe, Compton—Stanstead and Lotbinière—L'Érable |||||
| 36th | 1997–2000 | André Bachand | Progressive Conservative |
| 37th | 2000–2003 | André Bachand | Progressive Conservative |
| 37th | 2003–2004 | André Bachand | Independent |
| 38th | 2004–2006 | André Bellavance | Bloc Québécois |
| 39th | 2006–2008 | André Bellavance | Bloc Québécois |
| 40th | 2008–2011 | André Bellavance | Bloc Québécois |
| 41st | 2011–2014 | André Bellavance | Bloc Québécois |
| 41st | 2014–2015 | André Bellavance | Independent |
| 42nd | 2015–2019 | Alain Rayes | Conservative |
| 43rd | 2019–2021 | Alain Rayes | Conservative |
| 44th | 2021–2022 | Alain Rayes | Conservative |
| 44th | 2022–present | Alain Rayes | Independent |

## Election results

2021 Canadian federal election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | Conservative | Alain Rayes | 28,513 | 49.9 | +4.6 | $77,802.72 |
| | Bloc Québécois | Diego Scalzo | 14,150 | 24.8 | -3.4 | $21,445.03 |
| | Liberal | Alexandre Desmarais | 8,543 | 14.9 | -0.2 | $9,158.14 |
| | New Democratic | Nataël Bureau | 2,550 | 4.5 | -0.4 | $0.00 |
| | People's | Nadine Fougeron | 2,058 | 3.6 | +2.4 | $0.00 |
| | Free | Louis Richard | 897 | 1.6 | N/A | $261.59 |
| | Rhinoceros | Marjolaine Delisle | 448 | 0.8 | N/A | $0.00 |
| Total valid votes/expense limit | Total valid votes/expense limit | Total valid votes/expense limit | 57,159 | 98.1 | – | $116,926.70 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 1,125 | 1.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 58,284 | 66.3 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 87,942 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | Swing | +4.0 |
| Source: Elections Canada |||||||
vte2019 Canadian federal election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | Conservative | Alain Rayes | 26,553 | 45.3 | +13.70 | $62,920.65 |
| | Bloc Québécois | Olivier Nolin | 16,539 | 28.2 | +11.00 | none listed |
| | Liberal | Marc Patry | 8,868 | 15.1 | -9.60 | $14,690.80 |
| | Green | Laura Horth-Lepage | 3,133 | 5.3 | +3.60 | none listed |
| | New Democratic | Olivier Guérin | 2,864 | 4.9 | -19.30 | $0.33 |
| | People's | Jean Landry | 681 | 1.2 | - | $462.33 |
| Total valid votes/expense limit | Total valid votes/expense limit | Total valid votes/expense limit | 58,638 | 100.0 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 1,077 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 59,715 | 68.8 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 86,741 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | Swing | +1.35 |
| Source: Elections Canada |||||||
2015 Canadian federal election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | Conservative | Alain Rayes | 18,505 | 31.57 | +6.87 | $136,964.22 |
| | Liberal | Marc Desmarais | 14,463 | 24.67 | +17.71 | $33,114.26 |
| | New Democratic | Myriam Beaulieu | 14,213 | 24.25 | -8.24 | $58,782.84 |
| | Bloc Québécois | Olivier Nolin | 10,068 | 17.18 | -16.65 | $50,004.53 |
| | Green | Laurier Busque | 984 | 1.68 | -0.38 | $79.93 |
| | Rhinoceros | Antoine Dubois | 384 | 0.66 | – | – |
| Total valid votes/expense limit | Total valid votes/expense limit | Total valid votes/expense limit | 58,617 | 100.0 | | $224,297.28 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 912 | – | – |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 59,529 | – | – |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 85,652 |
| | Conservative gain from Bloc Québécois | Conservative gain from Bloc Québécois | Swing | Swing | -5.40 |
| Source: Elections Canada |||||||
2011 Canadian federal election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | Bloc Québécois | André Bellavance | 18,033 | 33.83 | -12.2 |
| | New Democratic | Isabelle Maguire | 17,316 | 32.49 | +23.8 |
| | Conservative | Jean-Philippe Bachand | 13,145 | 24.66 | -4.3 |
| | Liberal | Marie-Josée Talbot | 3,711 | 6.96 | -5.7 |
| | Green | Tomy Bombardier | 1,098 | 2.06 | -0.5 |
| Total valid votes/expense limit | Total valid votes/expense limit | Total valid votes/expense limit | 53,303 | 100.0 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 871 | 1.6 | -0.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 54,174 | 69.2 | +3.6 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 82,663 | – | – |
2008 Canadian federal election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | Bloc Québécois | André Bellavance | 23,913 | 46.0 | -2.5 | $77,254 |
| | Conservative | Éric Lefebvre | 15,080 | 29.0 | -3.8 | $68,252 |
| | Liberal | Gwyneth Helen Grant | 6,599 | 12.7 | +2.1 | $13,483 |
| | New Democratic | Stéphane Ricard | 4,509 | 8.7 | +3.7 | $6,965 |
| | Green | François Fillion | 1,337 | 2.6 | -2.1 | $129 |
| | Independent | Jean Landry | 526 | 1.0 | | $4,952 |
| Total valid votes/expense limit | Total valid votes/expense limit | Total valid votes/expense limit | 51,964 | 100.0 | $85,600 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 728 | 1.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 52,692 | 65.6 |
2006 Canadian federal election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | Bloc Québécois | André Bellavance | 24,466 | 47.9 | -7.7 | $45,923 |
| | Conservative | Jean Landry | 16,465 | 32.2 | +21.8 | $54,937 |
| | Liberal | Louis Napoléon Mercier | 5,294 | 10.4 | -16.8 | $13,189 |
| | New Democratic | Isabelle Maguire | 2,507 | 4.9 | +1.6 | $1,096 |
| | Green | Laurier Busque | 2,355 | 4.6 | +1.0 | $320 |
| Total valid votes/expense limit | Total valid votes/expense limit | Total valid votes/expense limit | 51,087 | 100.0 | $79,322 |
2004 Canadian federal election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | Bloc Québécois | André Bellavance | 26,211 | 55.6 | +19.2 | $57,094 |
| | Liberal | Christine St-Pierre | 12,809 | 27.2 | +5.7 | $57,787 |
| | Conservative | Pierre Poissant | 4,925 | 10.4 | -30.3 | $23,328 |
| | Green | Lucie LaForest | 1,699 | 3.6 | +3.6 | $164 |
| | New Democratic | Jason S. Noble | 1,540 | 3.3 | +2.8 | $7,832 |
| Total valid votes/expense limit | Total valid votes/expense limit | Total valid votes/expense limit | 47,184 | 100.0 | $77,446 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 13,402 | 28.4 |
| Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | 1,112 | 2.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 48,296 | 62.2 |
| | Bloc Québécois gain from Progressive Conservative | Bloc Québécois gain from Progressive Conservative | Swing | Swing | +6.8 |
Change from 2000 is based on redistributed results. Conservative Party change is based on the total of Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative Party votes.
2000 Canadian federal election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Progressive Conservative | André Bachand | 18,430 | 37.2 | -4.3 |
| | Bloc Québécois | André Bellavance | 18,067 | 36.5 | -0.5 |
| | Liberal | Aldéi Beaudoin | 10,416 | 21.0 | +0.7 |
| | Alliance | Philippe Ardilliez | 1,930 | 3.9 | |
| | Natural Law | Christian Simard | 375 | 0.8 | |
| | New Democratic | Vincent Bernier | 319 | 0.6 | -0.6 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 49,537 | 100.0 |
1997 Canadian federal election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Progressive Conservative | André Bachand | 21,687 | 41.5 |
| | Bloc Québécois | Gaston Leroux | 19,319 | 37.0 |
| | Liberal | Aldéi Beaudoin | 10,613 | 20.3 |
| | New Democratic | Martin Bergeron | 641 | 1.2 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 52,260 | 100.0 |