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QUEBEC

It was all over in a heartbeat and Pierre Karl Péladeau was the hands-down winner.

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The millionaire media mogul — who continues to own Québecor and has vowed to make Quebec an independent country — coasted to victory as the Parti Québécois leadership race ended with a thud Friday.

Going down to a crushing defeat were the remaining two candidates in the race, Alexandre Cloutier and Martine Ouellet.

Before 1,000 people packed into the Quebec City convention centre, PQ elections president Jacques Léonard announced the results following an evening steeped in party nostalgia.

The race that started with six candidates will not need a second ballot after Léonard declared Péladeau the winner with 57.58 per cent of the vote.

The number is quite close to the PQ leadership record set by Pierre Marc Johnson in 1985, when he became leader with 58.7 per cent of the vote.

Cloutier came second with 29.21 per cent of the vote while Ouellet, as expected, came in third with 13.21 per cent. The participation rate in the vote was 72.9 per cent.