TORONTO

It’s herstory.

Kathleen Wynne will become Ontario’s 25th premier — the first woman, and married gay woman at that, to hold the post.

“Thank you beautiful Liberals,“ Wynne said Saturday night to the cheering crowd at the old Maple Leaf Gardens, now Ryerson University’s Mattamy Athletic Centre, before addressing one of the question marks about her electability.

“Can we just get this Toronto thing out of the way? I am going to be the premier of the whole province.”

She addressed another earlier in the day, asking during her rousing speech: “Can a gay woman win?” She answered that she’s already proved she can.

Wynne secured a third ballot victory with 1,150 votes to Sandra Pupatello’s 866.

In the end, Wynne’s warm hugs beat out Pupatello’s sharp elbows to win the race to succeed outgoing Premier Dalton McGuinty, whose legacy she vowed to build on. She inherits a deadlocked minority government, a prorogued legislature and an $11.9-billion deficit.

Sticking to an earnest, inclusive mantra, Wynne plugged away over the course of the nine-week campaign and presented herself as a consensus builder who actually listens.

The famously combative Pupatello, meanwhile, played up her brash, feisty style, saying she was the party’s best bet to fight and win an election, even vowing to “bring the opposition to their knees” in her speech.

The two were deadlocked after the first ballot, Pupatello just two votes ahead, surprising many who thought she had a bigger lead with the party establishment.

The first to move to Wynne’s open arms was Eric Hoskins. Last on the first ballot, the doctor and humanitarian who founded the War Child charity took his 150 votes out into the centre of the Maple Leaf Gardens floor, paused briefly, then pointed dramatically in Wynne’s direction.

With the cameras and attention firmly fixed on Wynne, fourth-place Harinder Takhar — widely believed to be a Pupatello stalking horse from the start — took his supporters in her direction.

On the second ballot, Pupatello stretched her lead to 817 to 750 over Wynne but that again was a disappointment for Pupatello, after Wynne staffers spread the word she expected to be at least 100 votes behind.

Within minutes of the second-round results being announced, the third-place Gerard Kennedy pulled his supporters back behind the scenes and fourth-place Charles Sousa seized his chance. He marched his troops down the hall to stand briefly in front of Pupatello’s ranks, then turned and headed towards Wynne.

Sousa said the fact Wynne can recall the legislature quickly while Pupatello would need a seat first played a big role in his decision, but Kennedy, who followed over to Wynne’s camp shortly afterward, had a different reason.

“This is a team player almost by definition,” Kennedy said of Wynne. “What we have to do now is really dig down and some of the policies, some of the process, some of the enabling of people are strengths for Kathleen. That doesn’t mean Sandra can’t do it, it just means Kathleen, in my opinion, is better at it.”

Pupatello made a gracious concession, calling Wynne a “spectacular candidate.”

With Kennedy, Sousa and Hoskins pledging their support — along with Glen Murray, who folded his campaign to back Wynne before the convention — Wynne secured the votes of four of her six rivals in the race.

Progressive Conservative party president Richard Ciano said it’s Wynne’s stance — and not her sexuality — that the next election will focus on.

“The issue isn’t sexual orientation at all, it’s the failed policies of this government,” Ciano said. “You couldn’t find someone more closely tied to Dalton McGuinty and his failed policies. You couldn’t find someone more responsible for the 600,000 Ontarians who are out of a job right now.”

A Liberal source said the opposition is more likely to pull the plug on the government with Wynne as premier.

“They’d be stupid to wait — the more you know Kathleen, the more you like her,” the source said.

“Come Monday, I will be in my office and looking forward to a meeting with Premier Wynne,” PC Leader Tim Hudak said in a statement. “More importantly, I will be hoping to see that the premier understands what must be done on creating jobs and reducing spending, and has a clear plan to do it.”

New Democrat Gilles Bisson said Wynne doesn’t represent a threat to his leader Andrea Horwath, currently leading in the most recent poll.

“Andrea Horwath is still who she is tomorrow morning,” Bisson said. “The problem for Ms. Wynne is she still is part of a government that people are unhappy with.”

Wynne will join five other women premiers in Canada and was congratulated by both Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Alberta Premier Alison Redford.