The Nationals' Dave Layzell has declared victory in the ultra-marginal seat of Upper Hunter, holding off Labor's Peree Watson to retain the seat for the Coalition.
Mr Layzell led the count on Saturday night, but both he and Ms Watson were hesitant to claim or concede before early votes were counted, with a third of the Upper Hunter opting to pre-poll.
Ms Watson's confidence was buoyed after winning the electorate's biggest polling booth, Singleton Heights.
On Monday, early pre-poll results shot Mr Layzell's lead up by 2,428 votes but no updates were provided by the Electoral Commission on Tuesday.
On Tuesday night, Mr Layzell declared the win over Ms Watson, the daughter of the late former president of the United Mineworkers Union, Mick Watson.
"Going forward, it's just continually trying to do your best for those who back you and for those who didn't in the election," Mr Layzell told the ABC.
"The job is to represent everybody, so there is an onus from everyone that you're going to listen, you're going to be able to help them with your issues and certainly solve a number of them."
Margin to grow after steady slip
The Upper Hunter's economy is driven by mining and agriculture.
Issues of compulsory land acquisition, teacher and nurse shortages and the future of mining jobs were key issues for the electorate.
Mr Layzell won the seat at the 2021 by-election, triggered by Michael Johnsen's resignation from parliament over a scandal involving his use of sex workers.
A boundary redistribution prior to the election saw parts of the Liverpool Plains, a traditional Nationals stronghold, move into the Tamworth electorate, while the Upper Hunter gained towns closer to largely Labor-voting Maitland.
The new boundaries cut the Nationals' margin from 2.6 per cent to 0.5 per cent, based on 2019 results, but Mr Layzell has grown that margin with the results of this election, so far.
He said representing the region in opposition would be a challenge, but he looked forward to taking it on.
"I've seen really good, effective opposition MPs, and I've seen others who are not effective, so I've been watching it closely and it's just about developing a new style of work," he said.
The Nationals, formerly the Country Party, have continuously held the seat since 1932, slowly losing their stronghold since the retirement of George Souris in 2015.
