In Hastings,the results were too close to call late Saturday. While Liberal candidate Briony Hutton had gathered 36.8 per cent of primary votes,Mercurio was narrowly ahead on preferences having gained 36 per cent of primary votes.
Mercurio said he was proud of the campaign his team ran,insisting it was a positive and clean attempt to get elected.
“We did a great job,win or lose,” he said. “I never went low. I said from the beginning ‘we’re going work with integrity,we’re going to live by example and with our heads held high’.”
Strictly Ballroom star Paul Mercurio campaigning to win the electorate of Hastings on the Mornington Peninsula.Credit:Simon Schluter
But last night Mercurio said there was still much counting to go and while the early results favoured him,that could change.
“It is close,” he said. “We’re in the middle of the dance and there’s still another act or so to go before the curtain comes down.”
The Tyabb resident had taken leave from his role as a councillor at the Mornington Peninsula Shire to run as a candidate in Hastings.
While on the campaign trail earlier this week,Mercurio said he had been approached by both Liberal and Labor to run in Hastings. However,he said he chose Labor because it had demonstrated a strong support for the arts as well as the rights of women and LGBTQ communities.
Although the Liberals won Hastings with a 1.1 per cent margin in 2018,a boundary redistribution left the seat with a notional Labor margin of 0.01 per cent.
Earlier this week,Hutton said she was starting from behind due to Mercurio’s high profile. But the retirement of the Liberal Hastings MP Neale Burgess meant neither candidate carried the advantage of incumbency into the election.
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Nearby,in the seat of Mornington,independent candidate Kate Lardner was on track to win the seat from the Liberal Party.
Liberal candidate Chris Crewther had hoped to resurrect his parliamentary career by running in the seat after losing the federal electorate of Dunkley in 2019.
The looming upset came despite Lardner contracting COVID-19 this week and isolating for the past five days. She continued campaigning from home.
Check out the live results in ourdata centre here.