Liberal incumbent Larry Bagnell will serve a sixth term as the Yukon’s member of Parliament after winning a tight race Monday.

The Liberal camp picked up 33.5 per cent of the vote in Yukon, or 7,035 votes.

Conservative hopeful Jonas Smith trailed closely behind, with 32.7 per cent, or 6,871 votes.

New Democrat Justin Lemphers finished in third place with 4,617 votes or 21.9 per cent of the ballots.

The Green Party’s Lenore Morris earned 2,201 votes, placing fourth.

People’s Party candidate Joseph Zelezny finished in fifth place with 284 votes.

Bagnell celebrated the win at Antoinette’s restaurant in downtown Whitehorse with about 60 supporters.

“It’s a victory that we can help those people in need. That’s what it’s all about. That’s what Liberals stand for,” he said.

Bagnell committed to continuing work on poverty reduction, affordability and climate action.

He gave a special shout-out to Yukoners living in rural communities in his victory speech.

“I got your back,” he said. “Nationally, this is a great victory so we can … help the working poor, help the single mothers, help the environment.”

Bagnell told reporters he was not expecting the victory, and worried the strong Conservative base in Yukon would sully his chances for re-election.

Facing being a member of a minority government, Bagnell said he hopes the Liberal Party will “do our part of good listening and good co-operating” in order to carry out a successful term.

Even as cheerful Liberal supporters began to trickle out of Antoinette’s Monday night, an air of uncertainty hovered over Bagnell’s victory.

Smith, did not concede the election until Tuesday morning, knowing there were more than 500 ballots that would not be counted until Tuesday.

“It is a democracy, and the people are always right, so we might have to wait a few more hours to see how right the people were,” he told election night supporters.

When the final polling station was counted Monday night, Smith was only sitting 75 votes behind Bagnell.

The additional 533 ballots ultimately narrowed the gap and Smith settled into second place with 6,871 votes.

“I am very proud of the team from coast to coast to coast for all of our efforts,” Smith told a disappointed but enthusiastic gathering at his election night headquarters at the Coast High Country Inn.

“We all rallied behind trying to make life more affordable for Canadians.”

Smith spent time thanking his supporters and those who worked on his campaign.

He told the audience there have been many nights over the last year he’s not been home to help his wife, Erika, with their young children.

“So thank you for putting up with me, especially in the last four hours,” said the 45-year-old Conservative in obvious reference to Monday night’s close ballot count, which could have gone either way right to the end.

“I definitely want to thank Mr. Bagnell for his continuing service to the Yukon.”

With one poll still to be reported last night, New Democrat Justin Lemphers took the stage at North of Ordinary and addressed the crowd, which was standing-room-only. Sitting squarely in third place, Lemphers was heralded with chants of "N-D-P, N-D-P" from his supporters.

When the crowd settled to silence, Lemphers addressed the future of the NDP in Yukon.

"All right, folks, this has been one hell of a journey and you know what? We kicked ass!" said Lemphers.

"Just look at those numbers this evening. That is a lot of people who cared deeply about what happens in this territory. This is a lot of people who know what the future needs to look like.

"We are so close. This journey is only the beginning of a step. This journey is not over."

Just a few blocks away, at the Waterfront Station Business Centre, Morris was in high spirits as she watched the results trickle in.

Morris was not surprised by the result. She said Bagnell has a loyal following that supports him.

Nationally, she explained that the Green Party’s accruement of three seats in the House of Commons is a gain for the party, though it wasn’t the breakthrough they were hoping for.

The party had two seats when Parliament dissolved.

Morris explained that her party is small but received a large percentage of the popular vote, an outcome that didn’t translate into the winning of many seats.

She said this is why the party is a proponent of changing to a mixed proportional representation electoral system from the current first-past-the-post system.

“We’re the party that most wants proportional representation,” she said.

There was high voter turnout in Yukon, with 72.8 per cent of eligible voters showing up at the polls. This dropped slightly from the 75.8 per cent turnout experienced in the 2015 election.

Voter turnout hit 66 per cent Canada-wide.

– With files from John Tonin, Gord Fortin and Chuck Tobin.