With over half the votes already counted in the Federal election seat of O’Connor, many are hailing Liberals MP Rick Wilson’s 63% lead as a victory.
Within an hour of the counting having started on Saturday Wilson’s lead was already well established and continued throughout the evening.
Wilson (pictured above) previously held a margin of 6.7% over other candidates, and though this has fluctuated slightly since the counting began last night, it has basically remained roughly the same.
His win was widely predicted due to that longstanding high margin, followed by Labor candidate Darren Moir at a little under half Wilson’s vote count at present.
However, unexpectedly stubborn contenders in the race, who appear to be defying prediction were the three female representatives of One Nation – Gemma Johnston, the Nationals WA – Heidi Tempra, and Greens’ veteran parliamentarian, Giz Watson.
The generally understated election campaign in the seat has surprisingly resulted in considerable support for the trio, who have been neck and neck since counting began. The candidates of the three remaining parties, Legalise Cannabis (Philip Arnatt), the Australian Christians (Deonne Kingsford), and Trumpet of Patriots (Lindsay Cameron) have trailed but have attracted minor support, in that order, to date.
The ALP candidate in O’Connor, Darren Moir
