Melbourne’s mayoral race has a “Greek” feel, as incumbent Lord Mayor Nick Reece who is leading is married to Felicity Pantelidis, and has often said he is “Greek at heart”, while former AFL Carlton legend Anthony Koutoufides is a real threat if preferences flow his way.
Early vote counts reported by The Age reveal that Reece’s team has the most solid primary vote count among councillor tickets, with 13,243 votes, accounting for 22.55 per cent of the primary vote.
Liberal candidate Mariam Riza, the first endorsed Melbourne mayoral candidate from the Liberal Party, is also faring well. Her team has garnered 9,415 votes, just over 16 per cent of the total primary vote. Following closely is Team Kouta with 7,763 votes, or 13.21 per cent of the primary count, while Arron Wood’s team has received 6,294 votes, about 10.72 per cent. Labor for Melbourne, headed by Phil Reed, has not performed as strongly, pulling in 4,167 votes or 7.1 per cent of the primary vote.
Councillor ticket voting results offer a glimpse into preferences for the lord mayor and deputy mayor positions. If preferences align, Koutoufides could potentially gain enough support to challenge Reece’s lead. Despite being seen as the frontrunner, many rivals, including Wood, Jamal Hakim, and the Greens’ Roxane Ingleton, directed their preferences away from Reece. Independents like Gary Morgan and the Liberals placed Koutoufides higher in their preferences, which could prove advantageous if Reece out-polls Koutoufides.
Unlike automatic preference flows on some ballots, preferences must be manually directed due to the absence of an above the line voting option, making them influential since no candidate has a primary vote majority. The strong Liberal performance contrasts with lower-than-expected votes for both the Greens and Labor.
Early results suggest that long-standing councillor Kevin Louey will secure re-election for Team Reece, joined by Owen Guest for the Liberals. Gladys Liu, may also be elected for Team Kouta, while Olivia Ball is likely to be re-elected for the Greens.
Intaj Khan, Koutoufis’s deputy lord mayor candidate, was chuffed with their campaign’s performance compared to Wood and the Greens. “It is surprising how many people have underestimated us,” Khan told The Age.
Liberal candidate Guest said the results reflect a shift in Melbourne’s priorities. “The early results indicate that Melbourne wants a city managed by professionals, and Melburnians are ready for a Liberal-led approach,” he said.
