Cr Philip Penfold is among the four best performing independent candidates to have contested this state election, despite not winning the seat of Maitland.
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He trails Liberal candidate Steve Thomson by 607 votes as counting continues.
Cr Penfold has attracted 23.45 per cent of the first preference votes and Mr Thomson has received 24.82 per cent.
Labor candidate Jenny Aitchison has won the seat with 42.76 per cent of first preference votes.
According to NSW Electoral Commission figures, the only independent candidates elsewhere in the state to attract a higher proportion of votes than Cr Penfold were former and incumbent independent MPs.
They were Greg Piper, who won Lake Macquarie; Peter Draper, who attracted 34.31 per cent of first preference votes in Tamworth; and Sydney MP Alex Greenwich, who received 41.67 per cent.
Cr Penfold said he was heartened by his results.
“It was always going to be very difficult to beat Labor in Maitland,” he said.
“I was born and bred in Maitland and have met a lot of people through work, my charity work and my role on council.
“My position on issues rang true with some people.”
Cr Penfold said it would be difficult, but there was still a chance that he could claim second place in the final tally after preferences were distributed next week.
Individual voters control where their preferences go when electing members to the NSW lower house.
Political candidates and parties make deals with each other to direct voters’ preferences but those preferences do not automatically flow like they do in federal elections – the final decision is up to each voter.
Cr Penfold and the Liberal Party did not preference anyone in this election and Labor and the Greens directed their preferences to each other.
In the 2011 election, independent candidate Kelly Tranter received 20.6 per cent of the votes, Labor attracted 29.5 per cent and the Liberals won with 40.8 per cent.