Journalist Martine Biron joins list of media figures running in Quebec election

A not-so-tight race for Legault Legault has nearly half of Quebec voters on his side, according to the latest poll. What about the other candidates?

Another Quebec journalist is making the jump from the news biz to provincial politics as Radio-Canada reporter Martine Biron is set to run in the fall election as a Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) candidate.

Noovo Info reported Wednesday Biron will run in the Chute-de-la-Chaudière riding, which will be vacant following the departure of Marc Picard. The ruling CAQ party in Quebec is expected to announce Biron's candidacy in the coming days.

Picard, who served as an MNA in the riding on Quebec City's South Shore for 19 years, announced Wednesday he will not seek an eighth term when Quebecers head to the polls in October.

"It is with a twinge of regret that this decision was made. However, I welcome the end of this journey with serenity, as I realize the passage of time, and that taking care of my spouse is my priority," Picard said in a press release.

After running in the 2018 election under the CAQ banner, Picard won a whopping 59 per cent of the vote with 25,000 votes. Voter turnout was 76 per cent.

Biron, who covered Quebec politics, joins a growing list of media figures who have announced they are running under Premier François Legault's CAQ party, including Bernard Drainville (Lévis), Caroline St-Hilaire (Sherbrooke), Kariane Bourassa (Charlevoix--Côte-de-Beaupré) and Pascal Déry (Repentigny).

New polling released Wednesday suggested Legault will sail through to a majority in the 2022 election.

According to the Léger poll released just two months before the Oct. 3 election, more than twice as many Quebecers would vote for the CAQ as for the Liberals or Québec Solidaire (QS) if the election were to be held today.

The poll suggested the CAQ will dominate the race as 44 per cent of respondents said they would support the party.

With files from The Canadian Press