John Pesutto on Saturday night.Credit:Scott McNaughton
Pesutto,who has campaigned for a year to regain the seat after a shock loss in 2018,was with supporters on Saturday night at the Glenferrie Hotel. The former MP declined to talk toThe Age, saying he wanted to see more votes come in before discussing what had happened in the seat.
The 52-year-old has long been touted as a future leader of the state Liberal Party and,if he does manage to take back the seat,would be in contention to take over from Matthew Guy after hissecond loss as opposition leader on Saturday night.
Pesutto has consistently said he would like to take a leadership role in some form should he win back Hawthorn,which he held from 2014 to 2018.
Speaking from her Glenferrie Road campaign headquarters on Saturday night when the vote count showed she had a 3 percentage point lead,Lowe said that if she did win,it would be because of the effort of the community in the area.
Melissa Lowe hugs a supporter on Saturday night.Credit:Scott McNaughton
“We have worked hard to activate democracy,and we’ve put things like the logging of native forests and integrity on the agenda,” said Lowe. She began campaigning in September,soon after independent Monique Ryan had taken Kooyong,the federal seat that covers the area,at May’s national election.
If Lowe does win,she will be the first woman to hold the seat in its 133-year history.