Live LG elections blog - Come and join me and The Advocate!

I am the guest blogger for tomorrow night's election coverage of the NW local government elections.  Click on the image above to join in.

The last two elections (2009 and 2011) has seen a big jump in candidates.  Looks like people are looking for a change.  One interesting thing for me though is that there are no female candidates in Burnie.  Hmmm!

A few ponderings/speculations of the tight races:

• Will Alvwyn Boyd, Mike Gaffney and Lynn Laycock lose their Mayor seats?  I suggest at least one will.
• Will Ken Dorsey and Wessley Koop unseat sitting Waratah-Wynyard Councillors?  I suggest that at least one will.
• Will there be two or three new Aldermen in Burnie?  I suggest that it could be three but it's going to come down, very much, to the order of exclusion and the following distribution of preferences.  Alvwyn may even claim two quotas in his own right but let's see if one of the musos (Lynch, Anderson, Matthews or Bentley) makes it.
• Could someone win the Deputy Mayor spot in Burnie but not get voted in as an Alderman?  This could very well happen!
• Has the West Coast, in its current form, ever had a Councillor from Linda?  Linda Valley Cafe owner, Brandon Lane, is in with a shot to be that person!
• Is Konsy on the nose or is it time for Alvwyn to move on?  I can't even speculate on that one.  I'm tipping a 51/49 split either way.
• Will Kath Downie win a seat in Central Coast?  I say definitely yes.
• Will Dr Shane Broad step up to the plate in Central Coast?  Quite possibly.
• Will Betty Kay win a seat in Circular Head?  I say yes and there could be two, maybe three, new ones given the size of the field.
• Can Gerrad Wicks finally claim a spot in Latrobe?  Too close to call.
• Will Alwyn Friedersdorff hold her Deputy Mayor position in Waratah-Wynyard?  I suggest yes but Darren Fairbrother is going to make it very close.
• Will all nine Council areas in the Cradle Coast see at least one new Councillor?  I say yes with the possible exception of KI.

N.b. Your numbers two, three and often four do play a massive role in tight elections. They will play a massive role in this one - some counts could take a few days!

I hope to see you all tomorrow from 7pm.

Cheers,
C.