POLITICAL COVERAGE
Date of Publication: Monday 20th of May 2019
Place of Publication: Leader Messenger
James Stevens has won the election for Liberal in the Adelaide electorate of Sturt over Labor candidate Cressida O’Hanlon on Saturday night.
With only 75 percent of votes counted, James Stevens retained the seat for Liberal on a 57-43 percent two-party preferred basis over Labor.
Speaking on Sky News earlier today, Mr Stevens said “the Labor party policies had a particularly frightening impact on the people of Sturt, there is no doubt about that”.
Sturt was previously represented by Liberal candidate Christopher Pyne before his retirement. Pyne held the position for 26 years.
Mr Stevens resigned from chief of staff position with South Australian Premier Steven Marshall to be preselected for the position before election.
In a media statement with The Sydney Morning Herald, last week, Mr Stevens said he was not seeking to completely emulate Christopher Pyne, as he will be “a hard act to follow”.
The opposition candidate, Cressida O’Hanlon, was also running for the first time in the Sturt electorate.
If Mrs O’Hanlon had won the position for Sturt, she would have been the first woman to represent the eastern suburbs.
“I am very happy with the campaign my team and I ran in Sturt. It was extremely positive and focused on what I would bring as opposed to relying on denigrating my opposition,” she said.
Mrs O’Hanlon said the biggest loss in the election was “action on climate change, proper funding of schools and hospitals, aged care and the NDIS”.
Mrs O’Hanlon said she “believes” the Sturt election was “affected by the Federal sphere”.
And despite considering running for the next election, she has said “it is too early” for her to say at this point.
Liberal candidate, James Stevens, did not respond to requests for comment before deadline.
