Yesterday’s Legislative Council elections were a good result for the Liberal Party, and produced three relatively solid results.
Below the fold I’ve posted booth results maps for the top two candidates in each seat. Antony Green’s ABC Elections page includes results in each polling place, swings and overall swings, so I’ll refer there for those looking for the numbers.
In Montgomery, sitting MLC Sue Smith has retired after 16 years. Liberal candidate Leonie Hiscutt topped the poll with 45.6% of the primary vote, with independent candidate Cheryl Fuller coming second with 30.2%. Smith won the seat without any opposition in 2007, so it isn’t possible to calculate any swings.
Hiscutt should comfortably win the seat on preferences. Hiscutt polled better in the booths around Burnie, while Fuller’s vote was relatively higher in Ulverstone than in Burnie, although Fuller’s vote was still less than Hiscutt’s in most booths in the Ulverstone area.
In Nelson, conservative independent MLC Jim Wilkinson faced strong opposition, in part over his opposition to gay marriage. In 2007, the only opposition came from the Greens. Both the Greens and Wilkinson suffered double-digit swings, which isn’t surprising considering the addition of two extra candidates. The swing was greater against Wilkinson, but his primary vote in 2007 and 2013 was much higher.
Wilkinson’s primary vote fell from 63.5% to 48.8%. The Greens’ Tom Baxter came second with 25.3%.
In Pembroke, Liberal MLC Vanessa Goodwin won the seat at a 2009 by-election after Labor MLC Allison Ritchie resigned mid-term. This time Ritchie has made a bid to win her seat back as an independent.
Goodwin is sitting on 51.2% of the vote, up by 12.7% compared to the 2009 by-election. Ritchie is coming second with 35.9%, only a modest decline from the 42.9% she polled in 2007. This is pretty strong considering she’s been out of politics for four years.
The Greens’ Wendy Heatley came third with 12.8%, almost exactly the same as when she ran in the 2009 by-election.
Ritchie polled strongest at the northern end of the seat, while Goodwin polled strongest at the southern end, but results in the centre of the seat are mixed.
