Three-term Liberal MLA Murray Coell was in the fight of his political life, beating NDP candidate Gary Holman by less than 400 votes in Saanich North and the Islands.

Coell, a former Saanich mayor, declared himself the winner shortly after 1 a.m. while waiting for the results of one final poll and that was confirmed by 1:30 a.m.

Coell and Holman each had about 44 per cent of the votes late in the evening and, at times, fewer than a hundred votes separated them.

Last election, Coell took the riding with 10,837 votes to the NDP’s 8,962 and the Greens’ 3,665.

Coell has roots in the area going back to the 1980s and 1990s when he began in municipal politics on Saanich council, where he was twice elected mayor. Since being elected to the provincial legislature he has sat in cabinet, most recently as minister of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development.

He said voters were mostly concerned about the economy and demanded to know what steps the provincial government would take to deal with it.

Both Coell and Holman agreed the campaign was a good one, civil, even neighbourly.

“It was a very civil campaign. It was good that way,” Coell said.

Holman said the communities that make up the riding are responsible for the good relations, even over policy disagreements.

“It’s more kind of a neighbourly feeling here,” Holman said. “It doesn’t mask the fact that there are huge policy debates.”

Holman said one of the biggest hurdles for his campaign to overcome was the splitting of the left-thinking voters between the Green Party and the New Democrats. It’s a split he promised to heal during the next four years until the next election.

“I’m going to work to bridge that NDP/Green split,” he said. “I’m just tired of debating the number of angels dancing on a pin.”

The economist and consultant said the split between the two parties made it much tougher to put forward the many planks in his party’s platform.

Green Party candidate Tom Bradfield, said the campaign was an eye-opener. If nothing else, he realized how important it is for a politician to be well versed on matters like ferries and school district budgets.

Next time he will make sure to do his homework and he is convinced the Green Party has a future in B.C.

“I kept telling people, ‘You are not going to wake up tomorrow and say ‘Oh, My God, we’ve elected a Green Party government.’ ”

“But maybe you have elected a Green conscience somewhere,” Bradfield said.

According to campaign workers, voters this time around seem mostly concerned with the economy. Tough times aren’t necessarily widespread yet, but concern certainly is.