Ms Broad had 16 per cent of the primary vote by early afternoon on Sunday, with almost 75 per cent of votes counted.

Her slogan throughout her eight-month campaign was providing electors with a “choice rather a battle” and she suggested politics should be focused on issues rather than personalities.

Elements of the election campaign descended into nastiness at times, with finger pointing between the Liberals and Labor.

Labor suggested the Liberals had run a campaign focused on fear and terror, while the Liberals continued to focus on the red shirts rorting affair that was revealed earlier this year.

And while the Nationals are in a Coalition with the Liberals, Ms Broad suggested the value’s of her party were a refreshing point of different that appealed to voters in Bendigo East.

Ms Broad said the improvement in the Nationals vote was reflective of what the public wanted to see in politicians.

Read more:  

“The Nationals are a party that has heart and there’s a need for that. There’s Liberals and there’s Labor and the Nationals provide something a bit different to the table and whilst they’ve been a party that’s been around for a while it has a strong history and it has a strong future,” she said.

The Nationals did not field a candidate in either Bendigo seat in 2014.

“It (Nationals party) has that economic management but it also has that heart, and that’s what people want to see in politics,” she said.

“Community and authenticity is important to people and that’s what the Nationals have in spades.

“I’ve got no regrets, I gave it everything I could. If I thought I could have given more maybe I’d be disappointed, but I’m not.

“I gave people a choice and they’ve made that choice.”

Reflecting on her campaign with a mixture of exhaustion and nostalgia, Ms Broad said it was an eye-opening experience.

“Look how far we’ve come. Eight months ago we started from the bottom,” she said.

The equivalent of around 250 people have helped Ms Broad throughout her self-described “grass roots” campaign. 

“I’ve got to know my community a lot better throughout my campaign, and that’s the main thing I’ll take from this,” she said.

Ms Broad’s journey to political campaigning has not been a direct one since she studied politics at university close to 20 years ago. 

She worked in government, media and the business sector before taking the plunge. 

Have you signed up to the Bendigo Advertiser's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in central Victoria.