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It’s just one week until nominations open and so far, about 35 candidates have come forward.
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The first Aboriginal nominee, Brad Widders, has teamed up with Trevor Smith under the banner Collaborative Opportunities.
The pair will stand independently but share views and an election campaign.
Joshua Fitter is another newcomer and will stand on a platform of creating jobs for youth and leveraging the city’s NBN advantage.
Foundation for Regional Development chief executive Peter Bailey has also come forward.
He announced his candidacy just days after 2012 to 2015 councillor Jenny Bailey confirmed she was out.
The Greens will field six in an official party ticket led by 2008 to 2012 councillor Dorothy Robinson.
Labor also launched their campaign last week, endorsing six candidates with Deb O’Brien on top.
Last week:
With just two weeks until candidate nominates open, election campaigns are gathering momentum.
The Greens have officially declared their hand, fielding six candidates in a group ticket.
As expected, Dorothy Robinson is the lead candidate, with 2012 to 2016 Armidale Dumaresq councillor Peter O’Donohue relegated to number two.
Johanna Garnett, Tim Collins, Dora Koops and Pat Schultz will round out the Green’s group.
Labor has also firmed their line up with Deb O’Brien confirmed as their number one.
The party will meet tonight to cement their endorsements before former deputy prime minister Anthony Albanese officially launches their campaign on Tuesday.
Former Armidale Dumaresq councillor Jenny Bailey has ruled herself out, citing other commitments and concerns over Council spending.
That leaves only Margaret O’Connor and Chris Halligan of the old guard still sitting on the fence.
Snapshot of current candidates:
We can split the current candidates a number of ways to give a clearer picture of the group as a whole.
Seven candidates have served in local government before.
Of the 34 know hopefuls, some who are yet to announce their campaign, only 12 are women.
Two of the three major political parties will field groups of six endorsed candidates each.
That is, Labor and the Greens are in, and the Liberal Party will not have a group, leaving about one third standing independently so far.
Only six candidates are under the age of 40.
Only one candidate lives in Guyra, with one from Aberfoyle and one from Wollomombi.
And to my knowledge, none of the current candidates identifies as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. (Thought watch this space)
The total list of publicly confirmed candidates now reads Colin Gadd, Andrew Murat, Jim Maher, Herman Beyersdorf, Diane Gray, Dale Curtis, Les Davis, Martha Saw, John Galletly, Maria Hitchcock, Jack Rapley, David Levingston, Alison Stewart, Gordon Cope, Simon Murray, Aileen MacDonald, Deb O’Brien, Liam Dudgeon, Susan McMichael, Libby Martin, Peter O’Donohue, Dorothy Robinson, Tim Collins, Dora Koops, Pat Schultz and Joanna Garnett.
There are several others coming forward this week, plus three additions to the Labor ticket.
Nominations open on July 31, close on August 9, and election day is September 9.
We are also building a photo archive of candidates on Instagram so voters will have a quick reference of who’s who in the election race.
