For months he has been campaigning under the radar of the national media and larger political parties.
He visited Dunedin four times this year, always making himself available for interviews, fundraising events and political speeches.
Each day he emailed his itinerary for the day to media outlets - at least to the Otago Daily Times.
He was maintaining a high-energy campaign to return to Parliament.
He was appealing to voters feeling disenfranchised by other major political parties. This was always going to be more than a protest vote, at least in the eyes of Mr Peters.
He had entered Parliament in a controversial manner, taking an electoral challenge in Hunua against Labour candidate Malcolm Douglas.
His political career has been dogged by controversy. Sackings by two National prime ministers and a standing down by Labour prime minister Helen Clark only added to his appeal.
During the Otago Daily Times' Taking the Pulse election tour, Mr Peters was spotted at the Canterbury Jockey Club's premier meeting of the season.
At that stage, this writer predicted a place bet on New Zealand First getting more than 5% of the party vote would be a safe investment.
The party gained nearly 7% and will take an eight-strong Peters-led team back into Parliament.
At the race meeting, Mr Peters was tucked away in a corner of the dining room, fittingly beneath the photo of a past champion.
He had plenty to feel happy about then.
After campaigning in Dargaville on the Friday, he had flown to Christchurch at the last minute on the Saturday to attend a charity event for children in the city that morning.
After the event, the former racing minister headed out to a cup day overflowing with potential supporters.
"How is the campaign going?" Taking the Pulse asked.
"Much better now," he responded.
Mr Peters said he had been campaigning throughout the country speaking on small community radio stations, giving addresses at community halls to up to 300 people and receiving good feedback - although he would say that.
He had spoken on Northland Radio and also on radio in Oamaru and was feeling good.
"I'm going to bust this campaign apart," he said.
A Roy Morgan poll on November 12 put New Zealand First at 4.5%, about the same as the party polled at the last election, when Mr Peters was mired in controversy about donations and funding.
The poll result gave him a place on the TV One minor party leaders' debate and from there it was onwards and upwards.
The now infamous cup of tea between Prime Minister John Key and now Act New Zealand Epsom MP John Banks played right into the hands of Mr Peters. He claimed to have details of the tape in which Messrs Key and Banks denigrated New Zealand First's elderly support base.
Then, on November 17, he struck his best blow of the campaign by claiming he had been warned of a National Party "dirty tricks" campaign by two long-serving National Party members.
Tauranga candidate Brendan Horan was too busy to answer his phone and all calls were to be made to long-serving Mr Peters loyalist and staff member Frank Perry.
Not surprisingly, Mr Peters was unavailable yesterday, as he was during other elections.
He made a brief appearance at his campaign headquarters on Saturday night to thank voters and supporters before disappearing to another function. Asked where the other function was, Mr Peters brushed past and said he would tell the media tomorrow.
His non-appearance yesterday was no surprise and will set the tone for his next term in Parliament.
