Attorney-General Gordon Ramsay is in a fight to retain his seat in the ACT Legislative Assembly, with one expert saying the Labor frontbencher's position "was at the very least dicey".
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Mr Ramsay is locked in a tight battle with Liberal Peter Cain for the fifth and final seat in the Belconnen-based electorate of Ginninderra, as the counting of votes in the ACT election continued on Monday.
Meanwhile, the Liberals are holding out hope that Candice Burch can sneak past the Greens' Rebecca Vassarotti and retain her seat in Kurrajong.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr said it would be a "devastating loss for ACT Labor" if Mr Ramsay was to lose his seat, although he stressed his colleague was far from beaten.
Labor backbenchers Deepak-Raj Gupta and Bec Cody have already lost their seats, but Mr Ramsay would be the party's biggest casualty in an election which will see Labor returned to government but with up to two fewer members.
A former church minister, Mr Ramsay was immediately installed as ACT Attorney-General after being elected in 2016. He also holds the business and regulatory services, arts, building quality, seniors and veterans affairs' portfolios.
Mr Barr said Mr Ramsay's advocacy for older Canberrans, who he believed were more likely to complete postal votes, could benefit him late in the count.
"I'm not writing Gordon off yet," Mr Barr said on Monday morning.
"Yes, I'm sweating on that result, absolutely, because Gordon is an outstanding member of the Legislative Assembly and brings a wealth of experience in the community.
"It would be a devastating loss for ACT Labor. But I hope he'll get there. There are still a lot of votes yet to count."
While Mr Ramsay improved his personal vote from 2016, he has suffered from a 1 per cent swing against Labor in the seat. Deputy Chief Minister Yvette Berry and backbencher Tara Cheyne comfortably retained their seats in Saturday's count.
Elections analyst Kevin Bonham said Labor's hold on the third seat in Ginninderra was always going to be under threat if the Greens' primary vote went up - which it did.
Greens candidate Jo Clay has picked up the fourth seat on the back of a 3 per cent swing to Shane Rattenbury's party.
While Dr Bonham said there wasn't enough data to make a definitive call, his numbers indicated that Mr Ramsay would fall short if the count had been stopped on Monday morning.
"At the very least his position is dicey," Dr Bonham said.
Labor's hopes of retaining the third seat in Ginninderra have been aided by a poor performance by the Canberra Liberals, whose primary vote plunged 5.8 per cent.
If Mr Cain doesn't win, Elizabeth Kikkert will be Liberals' sole representative in Canberra's west.
Liberal campaign director Josh Manuatu said the race in Ginninderra was too close to call.
The Liberals are not giving up on Ms Burch holding her seat, despite ABC analyst Antony Green handing the seat to Ms Vassarotti.
The fifth seat in the southern suburbs seat of Brindabella is still in the balance, with Labor's Taimus Werner-Gibbings in an extremely tight race with the Greens' Johnathan Davis.
READ MORE:
- Weak Liberal vote in Kambah influential in southern ACT's election results
- Canberra Liberals' conservatism 'crippling' and 'paralysing': Humphries
- 'It didn't work': Coe's leadership in doubt after heavy ACT election defeat
- 'Busted the mythology': Labor basks in glow of sixth ACT election win
- ACT Greens say election result was not just a vote for a Labor government
- Labor and Greens set for another term
- 'Not to be': Coe proud of Liberals' campaign despite defeat
- 'Absolutely thrilled': ACT Greens big winners on election night
- Alistair Coe took Canberra voters for fools
- Needing a miracle, Coe threw a hail mary. It didn't work
- Greens set for a fourth term as the Assembly's kingmaker
- 'Breaking the three-party monopoly is hard': independents