Ms Curran, who celebrated with about 60 supporters at Robbies Bar and Bistro in South Dunedin, was excited and proud to have been voted in as the new member of Parliament for Dunedin South after nervous moments at the start of the night.
She attracted 17,891 votes and Dr Powell 11,899, leaving her with a majority of 5992.
While this was still a significant lead, it was well down from the almost 10,000 vote margin which separated Dr Powell and Labour incumbent David Benson-Pope in 2005, and the more than 14,000 vote margin Mr Benson-Pope had in 2002.
Ms Curran was, however, only 877 votes behind Mr Benson-Pope's total.
Labour's party vote majority also decreased.
In 2005, Labour had 57.13% of the party vote with 18,888 votes, a margin of almost 10,000 votes from National which had 8989.
This time, National had 11,877 votes, while Labour had 16,118, a majority of just over 4000 votes.
The Green Party was the third-highest, with 2613 party votes and 2226 votes for candidate Shane Gallagher.
Of the estimated 46,228 enrolled and eligible to vote in the electorate, 34,585 cast their votes.
Depending on the outcome of the more than 240,000 special votes to be counted nationally, Dr Powell, who sits at 59 on the National Party list could find himself in Parliament and Dunedin South with another MP.
On its current percentage, National has 59 seats but because a lower list candidate won his electorate Dr Powell has been relegated to the first reserve.
He will also become an MP if someone leaves the National Party caucus during its three-year term in government.
Dr Powell was in a positive mood yesterday, reflecting on the "fantastic result" of his party and the large increase in National votes in his electorate.
He said he had not expected to be in the position he was and he would be watching the special votes with "great interest".
He had celebrated National's win at home with about 40 supporters.
