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Hogan thanked candidates, supporters and voters in his concession speech, saying his time as premier has been the honour of his life.

As the results started tipping in favour of the PCs, supporters here at Liberal HQ began speculating about the reasons why — and Hogan said it’s time for reflection.

“Tonight we pause and reflect but tomorrow we work to build a stronger, prosperous Newfoundland and Labrador,” he said.

Requests from reporters to speak with Hogan were denied by staff, and Hogan did not respond to questions from reporters as he walked out of the room.

Hogan arrived at the Liberal HQ shortly after 11 p.m. NT and conceded the race to the opposing Progressive Conservatives.

“The people of Newfoundland and Labrador have spoken and we will always respect their choice,” Hogan said.

Hogan thanked the volunteers and candidates, and called their campaign a message of hope and optimism for the future.

The Progressive Conservatives are now projected to form a shock majority government, a sharp rebuke of the incumbent Liberals after a decade in power.

It all comes down to Fogo Island-Cape Freels.

Riley Balsom has now been projected to win Carbonear-Trinity-Bay de Verde for the PCs, meaning there is just one district left to report with a majority or a minority government hanging in the balance.

If the PCs can lock down their lead in Fogo Island-Cape Freels, it will be a majority government. If the Liberals can pull off an unlikely comeback, it will be a minority.

We’re expecting one of the two leaders to come out and speak fairly soon – likely Hogan first.

Liberal candidate John Whelan and his campaign team walked into the party's HQ a while ago — the first campaign team to stop by all night.

Whelan and his team are disappointed but in good spirits — lots of hugging and toasts happening right now.

Whelan told Radio-Canada that the result wasn’t what he wanted, but he knew the result was going to be close, and he offered O’Leary his congratulations.

“Every election is an opportunity for a party to reflect on performance,” Whelan said.

Joe Power is projected to win the hotly contested seat in Labrador West, while Keith Russell is projected to win Lake Melville. In a less surprising decision, Lela Evans is projected to take Torngat Mountains.

It’s a huge victory for the Progressive Conservatives, who held none of these seats after the last election.

If the Progressive Conservatives win a majority government, it will be thanks to vote efficiency.

More simply put, they are winning most of the closest races.

Of the 11 districts with the tightest vote margins between the first and second place candidates, the Tories are either the projected winners, or leading, in eight of them.

While the Liberals ran up big victories in the metro St. John’s area, the PCs pulled through in the tight races in mostly rural areas of the province.

After a night of close calls, sighs of relief and whooping were heard around the conference room at the Progressive Conservative headquarters.

We’re still waiting for Wakeham to arrive, but cheers of “Tony! Tony! Tony!” have started.

It took Wakeham two tries to win the provincial Tory leadership, but only one to secure the support of voters in a general election.

On the campaign trail, Wakeham hammered away at concerns about health care, the cost of living and crime.

The PCs hoped voters were ready for a change, after a decade of Liberal government — and they turned out to be right.

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