Four days after voting ended in the state election, Liberal Party leadership contender John Pesutto has finally won back Hawthorn, the seat he lost to Labor at the 2018 election.
On Wednesday afternoon the former shadow attorney-general edged ahead of teal candidate Melissa Lowe by more than 1000 votes, after a 2 per cent swing towards the Liberals on a two-party preferred measure.
John Pesutto has won back his seat of HawthornCredit:Eddie Jim
The win will keep Pesutto in the race for the Liberal Party's leadership following the resignation of Matthew Guy following the party's disastrous election result.
Berwick MP Brad Battin and Polwarth MP Richard Riordan will also contest the leadership when the ballot is held late next week.
The electorate of Hawthorn sits within the boundaries of Kooyong, the federal seat where teal independent Monique Ryan toppled then-treasurer Josh Frydenberg in May.
Pesutto faced a strong contest from the Climate-200 backed Lowe who received more than 20 per cent of the primary vote.
Earlier on Wednesday, shadow finance minister Ryan Smith pulled out of the leadership race and will instead back Battin for the top job.
“I have taken the decision today to withdraw my candidacy for the leadership of Liberal parliamentary team,” Smith told Sky News.
Smith, who is the member for Warrandyte in Melbourne’s outer north-east suburbs, said he did not want to divide support for the party after discussions with Battin.
Six of the 88 lower house seats still remain in doubt, with Labor increasingly confident it can win the electorates of Preston and Northcote.
In Pakenham, Liberal Party candidate David Farrelly leads by just 220 votes, over Labor's Emma Vulin.
Teal candidate Kate Lardner remains locked in a close battle for the seat of Mornington where Liberal candidate and former federal MP Chris Crewther is just 337 votes ahead.
Labor is also ahead of the Liberals in the seats of Bass and Hastings, but both seats remain on a knife edge.
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