Simon Behrakis has lost his Clark seat to Liberal party colleague and sitting MP Madeleine Ogilvie by less than 200 votes.
The stunning upset saw Ogilvie, who was behind on first-preference votes, surge ahead thanks to preference flows under Tasmania’s Hare-Clark voting system.
The Tasmanian Electoral Commission confirmed the final count on Thursday, with Ogilvie clinching the seventh seat by just 180 votes.
Behrakis, who initially led Ogilvie 5,122 to 4,452 on first preferences, was ultimately knocked out with 6,902 votes, falling short of Ogilvie’s 7,082.
Fellow Liberal Marcus Vermey, who topped the party ticket with 5,870 primary votes, comfortably secured the sixth seat with a final total of 8,006.
Under Hare-Clark, voters rank candidates in order of preference and votes from eliminated candidates are redistributed until all seats are filled.
“I am just so grateful and humbled. I really want to thank everyone who supported me and voted for me, from the bottom of my heart,” Ogilvie said.
“My sincere congratulations to Marcus on his election and to Simon who is an incredibly talented politician and I know he will be back.”
With Vermey and Ogilvie joining the Liberals’ line-up, Clark now has two MPs from each big party.
Labor’s Ella Haddad and Josh Willie, along with the Greens’ Vica Bayley and Helen Burnet, have also been declared elected, as has independent Kristie Johnston.
Behrakis entered parliament in October 2023 after a recount following the resignation of former Liberal attorney-general Elise Archer. He had previously served as a Hobart city councillor since 2018.
Archer, who also made a bid for Clark as an independent in this election, picked up 2,141 first-preference votes.
