Thank goodness that's over. Months of unlovely politicking, weeks of surreal debate - and the anticlimax of the election itself - have passed. For a while, at least, the community can get on with ordinary life while the government can resume its task of staying out of the way as much as possible. Candidate Alan Leong Kah-kit, a modest man with much to be modest about, can fade away into well-earned obscurity.
The constitutional reform roadshow will, of course, continue. But after a surfeit of slogans and road maps, it is reasonable to hope that the government will want to give time for passions to subside. It certainly will not be in a hurry to risk a repeat of December 2005, when its proposals for political change were blocked in the legislature by the hardline democrats.
Those ladies and gentlemen might, in the meantime, do well to reflect on the old adage that democracy is an experiment in government that has the disadvantage of counting votes instead of weighing them.
Constitutional wrangles aside, there are four broad areas in which Donald Tsang Yam-kuen will have the chance to deliver strong governance in his new term: relations with the mainland; economic and fiscal policy; social policy; and the role of ministers and the civil service.
Mr Tsang has built up an impressive record of increasing contact with the central government and the provinces and municipalities of the pan-Pearl River Delta. Granted, he was starting from a low base. The establishment of more Hong Kong representative offices on the mainland will certainly help, but ultimately the administration's efforts to promote integration will be judged by results.
One acid test will be the success of Mr Tsang's plans to strengthen Hong Kong's role as a financial centre by leveraging our relationship with the mainland in a variety of ways. Another will be the rationalisation of the various admission schemes to encourage the inflow of talented mainlanders. Yet another will be delivering on the pledge to promote 'multi-destination' itineraries to Hong Kong and the mainland, for the inbound tourism market.