While the NDP鈥檚 Doug Routley was declared the winner of the Nanaimo-North Cowichan riding early in the evening, the south end of the Valley had to wait longer to find out who would be the Cowichan Valley riding鈥檚 new MLA.

Sonia Furstenau was declared the winner at 10:40 p.m.

鈥淲e have a lot of work to do and we鈥檙e going to do it together,鈥� said Furstenau shortly after her victory.

鈥淭his was a campaign built on building community.鈥�

Furstenau said North American has its first Green Party caucus.

鈥淭hat is historic,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to demostrate that politics can be done differently.鈥�

The Greens are committed to working in the best interests of the people, she said.

鈥淧eople felt good about voting, they felt happy,鈥� Furstenau said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not responsible for other parties to suggest things are going differently than they are.鈥�

Supporter and North Cowichan councillor Maeve Maguire said 鈥淭his is the most exciting place to be in B.C. right now.鈥�

In the early going the NDP鈥檚 Lori Iannidinardo came out to a small lead, with the Green Party鈥檚 Sonia Furstenau on her heels and the BC Liberals鈥� Steve Housser also in the race.

But as the night wore on Furstenau took a good-sized lead.

Housser was the first to concede.

鈥淚鈥檓 hugely disappointed. Not so much for me but for the team that worked so hard,鈥� Housser said, not ruling out the idea of running again in the future. 鈥淏ut it would be my third kick at the can and I鈥檇 be over 70.鈥�

Iannidinardo held out hope until almost midnight, but finally spoke to her supporters.

鈥淲e still have much to celebrate. This has been an amazing campaign. I have never felt so connected to and proud of my community,鈥� she said.