Gary Humphries insists it is the outrage of party members that has caused him to keep fighting for his job.
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The incumbent Liberal senator admits he has changed his mind about bowing out of the race after losing his preselection in last Saturday's ballot. But he said the process was so flawed that local Liberals had flocked to him to express their frustration at being denied a vote.
Former ACT opposition leader Zed Seselja beat Senator Humphries 114 votes to 84 in the preselection ballot.
But many of the 640 members in the Liberal Party's ACT division were not allowed to vote because of confusion over attendances at qualifying meetings.
Senator Humphries said many of those members were now demanding their right to be heard.
''It is clear that party members do want to express their opinions about the events of the past two weeks,'' he said.
''The sheer volume of emails, letters, text messages, phone calls and personal visits to me makes it clear that there are a huge number of party members who wish to express their opinions and have so far been excluded.
''We owe it to the party and to those who will ultimately be our candidates in this year's federal election to let everyone know they got there fairly and that their candidacy truly reflects the wishes of the party.''
Grassroots members have instigated a divisional meeting to reconsider the nomination process. And although party president Tio Faulkner is trying to get the members to back down, he is bound by party rules to hold the meeting because of the sheer number of people who signed a petition calling for it. The meeting could decide to overturn last week's preselection result and start the process again.
Senator Humphries said he was not the only one who had changed his mind about contesting a preselection.
He said Mr Seselja had repeatedly said he would not seek preselection for the Senate.
''Apparently both of us have had a change of mind on the issue of preselection. We're both equally guilty of that,'' Senator Humphries said.
''I admit that I've changed my mind. But in a sense this is not about whether I want to recontest the preselection. It is about party members wanting to have their say.
''There's not too much more I can do. I have spoken with party members. They know my position and I would encourage them all to have their say.''
Senator Humphries also said Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott had encouraged him to pursue any avenue of appeal open to him to regain the No.1 spot on the ACT's Liberal Senate ticket.
