History will say that Liberal Party candidate Andrew Constance won the Bega electorate during the 2019 state election on Saturday, March 23, but a deeper look at the numbers is needed to understand exactly what happened this year.
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Andrew Constance was expected to win his fifth-straight term as Bega MP, and he did with a primary vote total of 49.38 per cent. However, that number represented a 3.86 per cent swing against him compared to the 2015 results.
Country Labor candidate Leanne Atkinson gained a 30.59 per cent share of the primary vote, 2.24 per cent less than her 2015 results. However, these results can be explained by the introduction of both the Animal Justice Party and Shooters, Fishers, and Farmers Party in 2019.
Greens candidate Will Douglas finished with 9.47 per cent of the primary vote, .63 per cent less than Margaret Perger's finish in 2015.
Eric Thomas of the Shooters, Fishers, and Farmers Party finished with 6.37 per cent, Coral Anderson of the Animal Justice Party finished with 2.62 per cent, and Joshua Shoobridge of the Australian Conservatives finished with 1.57 per cent.
Despite the swing against Andrew Constance, it was still a fairly dominant win, as he finished with the most votes at all but five of the voting centres across the electorate (Central Tilba, Tanja, Towamba, Wallaga Lake, and Wyndham).
Central Tilba and Tanja were won by Will Douglas, and Towamba, Wallaga Lake, and Wyndham were won by Leanne Atkinson.
Andrew Constance's biggest voting total came in Eden (946), while Leanne Atkinson's came in Moruya (593). Bermagui was the biggest spot for Will Douglas (233).
For the minor parties, Eden saw the most votes for the Shooters, Fishers, and Farmers Party (213), the Batemans Bay Community Centre for the Animal Justice Party (54), and Merimbula for the Australian Conservatives (42).
For full election results in the Bega electorate, visit https://vtr.elections.nsw.gov.au/la/bega/fp.
Editors Note: Bega High numbers were unavailable at the time of this article.