Tasmanian Liberals have celebrated being returned to government, but the night had a sombre undertone with the election day death of former attorney-general Vanessa Goodwin.
Dr Goodwin, 48, died on Saturday after a battle with brain cancer.
Premier Will Hodgman visited his childhood friend and former cabinet colleague in hospital on polling day.
"I thank you, Vanessa, for what you have done to help me and our party be the very best it can be," he said in his victory speech.
Mr Hodgman claimed victory on Saturday night, with colleagues hailing his performance during a disciplined campaign. The government will have at least 13 seats in the 25-seat parliament, giving it a narrow majority.
"Will is quintessentially a very good local member. As we can see from his result in Franklin where he's again topped the poll," SenatorJonathon Duniam told AAP at Hobart's Hotel Grand Chancellor in Hobart on Saturday night.
"It's a very strong result. Everyone has a hint of doubt as they approach election day."
"(But) it was a very strong and disciplined campaign. It proves that the hard work has payed off."
With 80 per cent of the ballot counted, Mr Hodgman had won 38 per cent of the vote in Franklin.
In 2014 he led the Liberal Party to a convincing victory with a 12 per cent swing, winning 15 of 25 seats.
Hobart Lord Mayor Sue Hickey was one of the 13 elected Liberals, winning a seat in Denison in her first tilt at a state poll.
"I haven't made it over to the party celebrations yet but I'm sure they're going to be extremely happy," she told AAP midway through election tallying.
Labor campaigned heavily on a bold pledge to remove pokies from the state's pubs and clubs by 2023.
But Ms Hickey believed the message didn't resonate strongly enough.
"It's one of those divisive issues. There were certainly people who were very concerned about it," she said.
"But where I was going, in a lot of the areas where I was going people were more concerned about issues like homelessness, mental health and jobs."
