Following high hopes in recent weeks, Monday’s federal election proved disappointing for Canada’s New Democratic Party (NDP), yielding an ambiguous result that brought to mind the ghosts of elections past and in many ways resembled a strangely undead version of 2015.

On the heels of a campaign that generated considerable buzz and polling that suggested the NDP might ultimately receive the second-highest vote share in its history, the evening ultimately proved frustrating with the party failing to make necessary breakthroughs in the Maritimes, Ontario, and British Columbia, and losing all but one of its remaining MPs in Quebec thanks to a surge by the sovereigntist bloc.

Amid a fairly bleak electoral picture overall, however, there were a few signs of hope. Short on money and facing poor polling numbers just weeks ago, the NDP campaign pushed a strongly social-democratic message and at the very least averted the historic disaster some observers had predicted. It got an early evening gain thanks to the victory of former Newfoundland MP Jack Harris, who will return to Parliament following his defeat in 2015. In addition, it can celebrate the election of newly minted members like former Hamilton City Councilor Matthew Green and activist Leah Gazan. Mumilaaq Qaqqaq, a twenty-five year old with no prior electoral experience, handily defeated both her Liberal opponent and a former Conservative cabinet minister to become the NDP’s first ever elected-member from the northern territory of Nunavut.