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ROOKIE Labor candidate Ross Jackson hasn’t ruled out standing at the next NSW election, after making significant inroads into the margin of the Liberal victor Greg Aplin.
Mr Jackson predicted Labor would be well placed for an assault on the seat it last held in 1988 in four years’ time, based on the trend at the weekend election.
On a two-party preferred basis, Labor achieved a swing of 13.4 per cent on the 58 per cent of the vote counted.
Mr Aplin achieved a swing of 7.9 per cent four years ago after a tumultuous Labor campaign in which Darren Cameron replaced Nico Matthews as the candidate in the lead-up to the election.
Mr Jackson’s 9766 primary votes area already more than the 6566 Labor polled last time around and leaves him well placed to eclipse the 11,589 votes polled by Chris Ryan in the 2007 election.
Albury’s deputy mayor said Labor’s fortunes have turned since the 2011 rout.
“We ran a good campaign and Greg is a strong contender and did very well himself,” he said.
“All I wanted to do was reduce the margin.
“If I can move it to under 10 per cent, I would be extremely happy.
“But anywhere between 10 and 13 per cent is a good result.”
Mr Jackson cast his vote at Thurgoona Public School where sister and world champion basketballer Lauren handed out how-to-vote cards.
The 32-year-old was endorsed as the Labor candidate in late December.
“It has been an education and steep learning curve,” he said.
“We’ve done this in three months — December to March — and head office has given us so much time and help.
“In a perfect world, we would have started campaigning last July.
“But unfortunately that didn’t happen.
“I couldn’t have done this without the support of the team and, of course, my family.”
Labor officials have reported a surge in renewed interest in the party with Mr Jackson standing.
“This time around we were able to staff every booth in Albury with several people,” campaign manager Darren Cameron said.
“Ross enjoys widespread support not just within Labor, but a large cross-section of the community.
“We were even being approached at the Gold Cup on Friday by people who wanted to hand out for him.”