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INUVIK - The NDP's Dennis Bevington will be heading back to Ottawa for a second term as MP for the Western Arctic.

Despite a resurgent Conservative Party represented by Brendan Bell, Bevington won the Western Arctic seat on Tuesday night, taking 5,669 votes.

Dennis Bevington, right, incumbent NDP MP for the Western Arctic, is congratulated by Conservative candidate Brendan Bell after Bevington was declared the winner of Tuesday's federal election. - Cara Loverock/NNSL photo

Bell, his closest challenger, captured 5,146 votes - about 37 per cent of the total ballots cast and 3.8 per cent back of Bevington. Bell had hoped to become the first Conservative candidate to win the Western Arctic seat since 1984.

The Conservatives will continue nationally as a minority government, winning 143 seats in the general election. The Liberals dropped from 95 to 77 seats while the NDP climbed to 37 from 30 after the writ was dropped Sept. 7.

On the morning after the election, some Inuvik residents were wondering if the voters made the right choice.

Shane Brewster said he was surprised to learn that incumbent Bevington beat the Conservative candidate.

"I hope Dennis will do something about the gas pipeline now and hopefully work to lower the costs for housing," said Brewster. "I was surprised Bell didn't win, but I guess I shouldn't have been because of the support the NDP has in the North."

Mayor Derek Lindsay said he wasn't sure if Bevington would be a good match for prospective development in Inuvik.

"I don't see us moving forward in leaps and bounds," said Lindsay. "We need to get ahold of Dennis and make sure he does what he says he is going to do."

Lindsay added that he was one of the Conservative supporters who believed the pipeline would gain momentum with Bell as MP.

"A lot of us hoped things would be different for Inuvik if we had a Conservative candidate," he said. "Dennis has never been an advocate for the pipeline, hopefully he'll come through for us."

Voter turnout was weak in the Western Arctic. Only 48.6 per cent out 28,162 eligible voters cast ballots compared to 58.3 per cent nationally. Fifty-eight per cent of Western Arctic voters turned out in 2006.

Inuvik town councillor Terry Halifax said the low voter turnout hindered the results of the election.

"The polls seemed steady every time I checked in, but we knew voter apathy was our biggest opponent," said Halifax, who supported Bell.

Halifax said he is disappointed in the voters' choice.

"I'm shocked with the results. It's never easy to defeat an incumbent, but I thought people would see beyond the rhetoric and the fear mongering and vote for the best candidate," he said. "We had a chance to affect that change with a participant in the process. The voters decided they'd rather have a spectator."

In Yellowknife cheers erupted from NDP supporters as Bevington was declared the winner at the Elks Club late Tuesday evening.

"I'm so pleased we've had the result here we've had tonight," said Bevington in a speech to the crowd. "It was very close. I want to congratulate my worthy opponents who put up a heck of a fight."

Bevington called the win a "victory for the North" and that his second time in office will be "even better this time."

"The North is Canada. The North is what Canada is all about," said Bevington.

Bell made a brief appearance at the Top Knight in Yellowknife around 10:45 p.m. to thank his supporters and all those who volunteered for his campaign.

"It's certainly a disappointment," he said, referring to his loss. "I'm most disappointed because there are so many people in this room and around the territory who gave it their all and put their lives on hold ... and they did such a job for me. I'm mostly disappointed that we didn't quite get it done for them."

Liberal Gabrielle Mackenzie-Scott finished a distant third in this race, taking just 1,629 votes and 13 per cent of the ballots cast. Before Bevington's win in 2006, the Liberals held the seat for 18 years under Ethel Blondin-Andrew.

The Green Party's Sam Gamble improved on the party's past results, finishing the night with a best ever 703 votes cast in the Western Arctic. Noeline Villebrun with the First Peoples National Party of Canada finished last with 246 votes.