Former state Labor MP Casey Farrell has been elected mayor of the Derwent Valley in southern Tasmania, defeating sitting mayor Michelle Dracoulis.
Farrell won 60.4% of the vote after preferences were distributed, according to Tasmanian Electoral Commission figures released on Thursday.
He finished with 3,842 votes to Dracoulis’s 2,515.
“It feels great. I’m really humbled by the result, by the community putting their faith behind me for this position,” Farrell told Pulse.
“I ran a positive campaign. It was very focused on the future and what I wanted to see happen here in the valley.”
The contest was much tighter on first preferences. Farrell received 24.9% of the primary vote in a field of six, ahead of Dracoulis on 22.9%.
He pulled ahead as the other four candidates were excluded. Preferences from Neil Biggar, the last candidate excluded, gave him another 1,253 votes.
Farrell said many residents felt left out of council decision-making.
“I think that there were a lot of people that were looking for a different approach to the way the council is led,” he said.
He credited Dracoulis, saying the race was close the whole way through and she appeared to be doing well in the councillor count.
“I look forward to working with her and the other councillors that are eventually elected,” he said.
Dracoulis, in a post on social media, said her time as mayor had “come to an end”.
“Thank you to everyone who put their trust in me and supported me. I know some of you will feel this result too,” she wrote.
“After four and a half years, I’m looking forward to having a bit more room to just be me – and maybe dusting off that art degree I popped in the drawer last year.”
Farrell is also on track to win a seat on council, based on early councillor figures.
He said he would take a “soft approach” at first.
“I’m not interested in walking in and flipping tables and trying to change the way things are done without having an understanding of why those decisions are made,” he said.
Residents raised issues with him during the campaign, from road repairs to a reconciliation action plan.
He said he had put together a list and was committed to going back to those people to “make sure that progress is made on those issues”.
The 38-year-old briefly served in state parliament as a Labor member for Lyons.
He entered the House of Assembly in March 2025 on a recount after former Labor leader Rebecca White resigned, but lost his seat at the state election in July 2025.
“I really loved it a lot more than I thought I would,” he said of his time in parliament.
He said strong support at Derwent Valley booths in that election helped convince him to run for mayor.
His father, Craig Farrell, is a long-serving Labor member of the Legislative Council.
In his candidate statement, Farrell said he wanted to build a council that “listens, gives honest answers and helps people get things done”.
He pledged “practical, trustworthy and respectful leadership”.
