Parti Quebecois candidate Sylvain Rochon withstood a mid-count scare to edge the upstart Coalition Avenir Quebec's Jean-Bernard Emond and maintained the PQ's hold on Richelieu seat in Monday's byelection.

At 9:17 p.m., the CAQ candidate rose to within 14 votes of Rochon as 100 of 152 stations were counted but the threat was short lived, as the PQ lead eventually sprouted to over 700 votes.

The PQ won about 7,300 votes, roughly 36 percent of the vote compared to 32 percent for the CAQ.

Third-place candidate Liberal Benoit Theroux finished almost 2,000 votes short of the leader with about 24 percent of the vote.

Also-rans Marie-Eve Mathieu of the Quebec Solidaire party had three percent, while Sol Zanetti of Option Nationale had just under two percent. Vincent Pouliot of the Green Party and Louis Chandonnet both attracted under one percent of the vote.

About 47 percent of eligible voters cast ballots in the byelection.

In the last provincial election PQ MNA Elaine Zakaib cruised to an easy return with a 3,600 vote majority.

Rochon is a former journalist who also served as an assistant to Zakaib, who quit politics after winning two electoral victories. She retired to join the Jacob clothing chain in September 2014.