Two male ACT Labor candidates have been dumped as part of a bitter preselection process that ensured the party met its affirmative action quotas.
Louise Crossman, a left-aligned former president of the party and staffer in federal and territory Labor offices, has been installed as a likely candidate in Brindabella.
The party's administration committee still needs to confirm the final ticket.
Taimus Werner-Gibbings, a factionally unaligned member who narrowly missed out on a seat in the Legislative Assembly at the 2020 election, had been preselected by members but was dropped in order for the party to meet its affirmative action rules.
Mr Werner-Gibbings is understood to have won the most votes in the original preselection ballot earlier this month.
The decision was made at a tense meeting of the Labor party's branch council on Thursday night, where, The Canberra Times understands, right faction members backed Brendan Forde, a right-aligned senior advisor to Bean MP David Smith and former party candidate, to remain on the ticket.
Sitting MLA Mick Gentleman, Ms Crossman, Mr Forde, Caitlin Tough and Noor El-Asadi are understood to be the party's candidates for Brindabella. Ms Tough and Ms El-Asadi had been preselected as part of the earlier vote.
Joy Burch, who has held a Brindabella seat for Labor since 2008 and has served as Assembly speaker since 2016, will retire at the October 2024 election.
Another man who had been preselected to run in Kurrajong chose to stand aside to make way for a female candidate to ensure the party met its affirmative action rules.
ACT Labor secretary Ash van Dijk said: "Labor has a proud record of electing women to parliament. This is made possible by our commitment to affirmative action, ensuring our candidates reflect the communities they seek to represent."
The party's affirmative action requirements mean the party must run at least two female candidates in each of the five five-member ACT electorates.
But the rules also require the party to run 13 female candidates out of the total 25 fielded at each territory election, meaning some electorates must have a higher number of women running.
When preselectors fail to meet the quotas, the party's branch council can intervene to ensure the requirements are met.
The party's administration committee will meet to approve the new preselections, which are expected to be contested, before the candidates are formally announced.
