Weeks after signing the Atlantic Accord, Peckford announced that an election would be held on April 2, 1985. He self-proclaimed himself the "Great Negotiator" for the Atlantic Accord but during the election he was hounded by teachers and public service employees who were upset with the two year government-imposed wage freeze. Fraser March, the president of the Newfoundland Public Employees Association, had pledged to campaign against "every Tory in the province". A poll released just days before the vote showed the Progressive Conservatives and Liberals were tied at 41.5 percent outside St. John's, while Peckford's Tories led in the capital city. However, the Progressive Conservatives won 49 per cent of the popular vote on election night, compared to 37 percent for the Liberals and 14 percent for the NDP.