NDP Leader Liz Hanson, seen outside her campaign office last week, has secured a seat in the Yukon legislature with her victory in Whitehorse Centre on Monday. (CBC)

Yukon NDP Leader Liz Hanson has been elected as the MLA for Whitehorse Centre, meaning she will now have a seat in the territorial legislature.

Hanson won 356 votes in a byelection Monday, handily defeating Liberal Kirk Cameron and Yukon Party candidate Mike Nixon.

Cameron had 181 votes, followed by Nixon with 150, according to unofficial results from Elections Yukon.

NDP supporters who gathered Monday night at the High Country Inn dubbed Hanson "Landslide Liz," as she had won in all of the riding's five polls.

"I need to take a bit of a step back and a bit of a rest over the next few days, then I'll be going full at it," Hanson said after the results came out.

Rebuilding relationships

Hanson said she spent her campaign talking with people in the riding, and she pledged to continue doing that as their elected representative.

"We have got to rebuild the relationship between politicians and the electorate," she said. "I really want to spend time talking to people and hearing their issues and reflecting back."

Hanson takes over the downtown Whitehorse riding from former NDP leader Todd Hardy, who died of leukemia on July 28.

Hanson took over the party leadership from Hardy in September 2009, and with the byelection win, she she will join Mount Lorne MLA Steve Cardiff in the legislative assembly.

"I'm ecstatic. I think it's great," Cardiff said. "I'm going to have a colleague in the house again."

Rivals may run again

Both Cameron and Nixon said they may consider running again in Whitehorse Centre when a territorial election is called sometime next year.

"There's lots of people, myself included, that didn't win their first time out," Yukon Liberal Leader Arthur Mitchell said of Cameron.

"Kirk has always known that this was a 'two-fer' [and] that he was going to run twice, not once. And I'm sure that he'll need some time to rest up, and he'll be out there knocking on doors again."

Nixon, who was backed by the governing Yukon Party, said he spent this past campaign getting to know people in Whitehorse Centre.

"I've established myself to people downtown," he said. "They know that I'm an honest person [and] I'm sincere, and I think they'll give me a shot next time."

'We'll show well,' premier pledges

Premier Dennis Fentie said he does not view Monday's byelection result as "some sort of indictment on the government."

"We'll show well, but the time is not yet," Fentie said.

Fentie's current mandate runs out next year. He is required to call a general election sometime within the next 10 months.

Back at NDP headquarters, Hanson said Monday's win could spark the revival of the Yukon NDP, which had seen dwindling numbers in recent years.

"We've seen over the last month, over the last few months, is a revitalizing of the hope in the NDP and what I'm hoping is that tonight is just the beginning," she said.

"First we take Whitehorse Centre, then we take the Yukon," she added.

With files from the CBC's Cheryl Kawaja and Vic Istchenko