Will Hodgman is the second-ever Liberal premier to win back-to-back elections in Tasmanian history, after the Libs secured over half the primary vote in the state election over the weekend.
With 84.3% of the vote counted, the Liberals had 50.5% of the primary vote, down just 0.8% from the 2014 election.
Their continued success in a traditional Labor state is being credited, in part, to Hodgman, who personally secured the third-highest-ever percentage of votes in his seat of Franklin.
Labor managed to grow its share of the vote 5.4% since the last election, but its 32.8%-share of the primary vote was still the third-lowest figure it has won since 1906. Party leader Rebecca White was the most popular candidate in her seat of Lyons.
The biggest setback came for the Greens, who secured just 10% of primary vote, down 3.8%. Greens leader Cassy O’Conner secured her seat in Denison.
In terms of seat distribution, the Liberals have secured the requisite 13 to form a majority government, down two from last election. At time of writing, Labor has secured 9 seats, two more than in 2014, while the Greens have secured just one seat, down from three.
Two seats are still up for grabs (as at 1pm, March 5), with Labor and the Greens squaring off for the final seat in Bass, and the Liberals and the Greens battling for the final seat in Franklin.
Hodgman on election night thanked “the two things I love the most,” his family, and the state of Tasmania.
“Four years ago [Tasmanians] voted for change, tonight they voted for no change,” Hodgman said, “to stick to the direction this state is heading in, and to take our state to the next level.”
White conceded defeat on election night, but said the election represented a good turnaround for Labor.
“I am so proud of the campaign we have run at this election,” White said. “We are stronger. The Labor Party is stronger … we always knew we were up against it, and we have very nearly pushed a first-term government to defeat.”