Canberra Liberal faithfuls began the night with cheers but it ended in tears.
The Canberra Services Club was decked out in blue and white paraphernalia and the Liberals did have a lot to cheer about at the start of the night.
Just before 7pm whispers started to go around the room the party had received a significant swing towards them in Brindabella. The wi-fi connection was better in parts of the room than others so some received the results while others didn't.
"Did you hear there's been an 8 per cent swing towards us in Brindabella?" one partygoer, evidently on the good side of the room, said.
When the results finally made their way to the live broadcast, big cheers went across the room.
"That's what I'm talking about," Mark Parton, the charismatic Brindabella MLA yelled.
As results came through there was an underlying nervousness.
There were cheers at various points when candidates received good results. A big cheer did erupt when it was announced Rebecca Vassarotti had lost her seat.
Across Canberra, the Liberals received a swing towards them in the first results counted on the night and that left room for optimism.
Party insiders were nervously waiting on the results of some seats, especially those where the Greens and independents were battling it out. If the independents were able to get across the line, the Liberals had a chance of negotiating power. Loyalists were planning for a long night.
But shortly after 9pm it was clear the result was swinging towards the Greens. The Liberals chance of power was out the window.
Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee made the "hardest call".
"The call that I wish I did not have to make," she said.
There were lots of tears from the party faithful. Ms Lee was visibly emotional, as were her family.
They were outnumbered though by the staffers and the volunteers who were crying following Ms Lee's speech.
Ms Lee thanked her supporters and said she took full responsibility for not getting the party across the line.
"They say that being a Liberal in Canberra is hard and tonight I think for many of us it's even harder because we came so close," she said.
"I truly believe that we are the better team... I think we can be proud of our efforts because we really did take it to Labor."
Ms Lee did not commit to staying on as leader but said she would not make any "rash decisions". But those in the room chanted "four more years".
