Adam Marshall's fourth straight election win has seen him equal former MP's Richard Torbay and Ray Chappell.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The Nationals MP and the two former MPs in Northern Tablelands all won four straight elections in the seat.
Mr Chappell held the seat from a byelection in 1987 until 1999, when it was won by Mr Torbay, who held the seat until his resignation in 2013.
READ MORE:
Along the way Mr Chappell won elections in 1987, 1988, 1991 and 1995 before Mr Torbay won in 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011.
Mr Marshall's latest triumph, where he picked up more than 70 per cent of the vote in the March 25 poll as counting continues, comes two months short of a decade since his first election win in the May 2013 byelection following Mr Tobay's departure.
Back then the former Gunnedah mayor, who had moved to Armidale the year before to commence studying at UNE, was elected for the first time with 63 per cent of the vote.
Mr Marshall was re-elected four years later, in 2015, with 67 per cent of the vote, and again in 2019 with a massive 75 per cent, which was the highest vote for any MP in the state at that election.
In the 2023 election Mr Marshall was up against a record field, with 10 candidates nominating, including candidates from several minor parties and two independents.
Labor candidate Yvonne Langenberg, who had previously run for the federal seat of New England was in second place with more than 10 per cent of the vote on Saturday night.
Among the other candidates, Michael Hay from Shooters, Farmers & Fishers, and Elizabeth O'Hara from The Greens both had about five per cent.
As well as a record number of candidates in 2023, there was a record number of people voting early across the electorate.
Almost 13,000 votes had already been cast by lunchtime on Thursday, two days before the election, and that number dramatically increased to 21,820 by the time the early voting centres closed the following day.
Add more than 5000 voters, who registered for postal votes, and it meant close to 39 per cent of the electorate's 57,873 enrolled voters had already completed their democratic duty before election day.
At the 2019 state election, prepoll voting increased in popularity, especially at Inverell where the figures showed most of the town's eligible voters had already visited the ballot box before the official election day.
More than 6400 votes were dropped into the ballot box in the week leading up to the 2019 election in Inverell, then on election day just 2834 people voted at the town's three polling places.
Make sure you are signed up for our breaking news and regular newsletters
