SINN Féin's Declan Kearney topped the poll in South Antrim last night to take the first seat in the strongly unionist constituency.
Mr Kearney, the party's national chairman, secured 9,185 first preference votes - easily surpassing the 7,623 quota.
The result meant that Sinn Féin leapfrogged both the UUP and Alliance to become the second largest party in South Antrim by first preference votes.
He said he would work "for every single citizen" adding that he would serve without fear of favour for all.
Mr Kearney was almost 2,000 votes clear of his nearest rival with John Blair of Alliance securing 7,315 votes when the first count was announced.
Mr Blair soon became the second candidate over the line, securing his seat at Stormont in the second count. He first joined the assembly in 2018 after he was co-opted to replace former party leader and Justice Minister David Ford.
In the 2017 election, South Antrim returned two DUP MLAs - Paul Girvan, who was replaced shortly afterwards by Trevor Clarke when he was elected to Westminster three months later, and Pam Cameron.
First preference figures last night revealed that Ms Cameron, a former mayor of Antrim, polled 6,899 votes.
Former UUP leader Steve Aiken polled 5,354 votes with the DUP's Trevor Clarke on 4,943.
The constituency had last night also seen an increase in support for the TUV, particularly in the number of first preference votes.
Mel Lucas yesterday polled 4,317 votes, compared to the party's 2017 candidate who only secured 1,353 votes in 2017.
However, it remained unclear last night if the party would take a seat in the constituency.
