Regional WA’s chief chemist is set to be the Liberal candidate for the swing seat of Kalamunda.
The Perth Hills State electorate — held by retiring two-term incumbent Matthew Hughes on a margin of 14.5 per cent after a redistribution — is understood to be a key target for the Liberals, who were reduced to just two lower house seats in their 2021 drubbing.
Mr Hughes flipped the seat when Labor swept to power in 2017, defeating Barnett Government Minister John Day.
![Michelle Maynard, Kalumunda labor candidate Karen Beale and Labor member for Swan Hills Jessica Shaw.](https://timesofsydney.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/796fb348fcf0d4cb3bbf55fc8c22effc26abfdc2.jpg)
Liberal preselections closed last week, with WA Country Health Service chief pharmacist and former City of Gosnells deputy mayor Adam Hort understood to be the only name put forward.
Mr Hort is now expected to face Labor’s Karen Beale — a Shire of Mundaring councillor, while the Nationals have tapped longtime-party member Lisa Logan.
Mr Hort served on the Gosnells council from 2019 until quitting as both a councillor and deputy mayor in June, citing family reasons that required him to move outside the local government’s boundaries.
He has held the chief chemist role at WACHS since late-2020.
The only Liberal candidate for the safe Labor seat of Secret Harbour, which takes in most of the soon-to-be-abolished seat of Warnbro, was Rockingham councillor and perennial candidate Mark Jones.
Mr Jones is set to challenge Police Minister Paul Papalia, who has represented Warnbro since its creation.
The Liberal party recently preselected Labor-turned-independent Hayley Edwards in Rockingham.
Ms Edwards ran against Mark McGowan’s successor, Magenta Marshall, in a 2023 by-election after being passed over by the Labor party for preselection. Her Liberal nomination win set up a rematch that Ms Marshall is near-guaranteed to win.
Polling ahead of the March 2025 election in the seat of Hillary’s — turned red by Caitlin Collins at the last poll — found just an 8 per cent two-party swing against Labor, with the incumbent’s margin declining to 61-39.
If the swing were applied statewide, the poll by Utting Research for the Home Builders Action Group indicates that the Liberals are on track to flip just four lower house seats.
![Safety Bay locals are voting in the Rockingham By-Election. Pictured is independant candidate Hayley Edwards at Safety Bay Primary School](https://timesofsydney.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/a0c703211251939b8b5dc8c1dc399ae05a01153d.jpg)