IT'S been a tight race for the seat of Paterson, and while both incumbent Labor MP Meryl Swanson and Liberal candidate Brooke Vitnell are confident they did everything they could to resonate with voters - neither seemed satisfied on Saturday with how the campaign trail played out.
Ms Vitnell said she has been disappointed with "grubby" campaign tactics - arguing 800 of her signs had been vandalised or stolen prior to early voting - while Swanson fired off about the conservative "scare campaign" that a vote for Labor risks jobs in the coal industry.
"We've seen with this situation again in Europe that our coal is back in demand, so it's really important that we continue to contribute Australian coal to the world energy mix," Ms Swanson said.
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"We can also continue to build renewables, continue to plan for hydrogen power - we have the wherewithal to do both things and I think we should be doing both things."
Ms Swanson set up camp at Rutherford High School today, and said despite a groundswell of support behind the minor parties, she feels voters have put their trust back in Labor.
"I think they've heard our messaging, they've heard that we have a plan for the future - we have a plan for childcare, aged care, healthcare, Labor cares," she said.
"From cradle to grave we want to look after you, so I'm really interested to see here just what it looks like, what the mix looks like, because I feel a lot of people have come back.
"I could be wrong but that is my sense, but I will be interested to see the breakdown in how people voted today."
Ms Swanson herself predicted at the end of April that she was facing "the fight of her life" with just a five per cent margin over Vitnell.
She campaigned on the cost of living, employment and training and healthcare - and said voters were particularly focused on infrastructure, childcare and healthcare.
"That's really what people care about, to be honest with you people want to be able to support their kids, pay their mortgage, be able to rent a house or heaven forbid even think about buying one," Swanson said.
Ms Vitnell made headlines recently after an alleged altercation with a Labor volunteer resulted in her making a report to the police.
Her priorities throughout her campaign have been investing in hydrogen, securing affordable and reliable power with the Hunter Power Project at Kurri Kurri and upgrading local sporting infrastructure.
She said the focus for voters at Wirreanda Public School remained firmly on local issues - with funding for roads and infrastructure, the cost of living and mobile blackspots at the top of the priority list.
"Infrastructure has resonated more, the Liberals are focused on protecting our resources and making sure Labor didn't put a carbon tax in," she said.
She said the energy debate has been a hot-button issue particularly in Paterson suburbs like Kurri Kurri.
The Hunter born-and-bred candidate said whatever happens tonight - she can sleep soundly knowing she did her best.
"Every single vote counts, I'm not making assumptions but the reception here on the ground has been positive - there's no great urgency to vote out a Liberal-National government or to vote in Labor," she said.
"People certainly feel the government has been in a capable set of hands - I have certainly got up everyday and tried my best to fight for my community."
Candidates have set up camp across the electorate to watch the results pour in.
Swanson's team will shack up at Rutherford, while Vitnell's supporters pull up a stump at the Bull N Bush Hotel at Medowie.
Minor party candidates like Informed Medical Options Party's Angela Ketas, United Australia Party's Jason Olbourne and Liberal Democrats candidate Sonia Bailey have joined forces at Medowie Macadamias for the big night.
The lower Hunter seat of Paterson includes Maitland, Kurri Kurri, Nelson Bay and Raymond Terrace.
Swanson has held the seat since a radical boundary redraw in 2016, when Paterson recorded the third largest swing in Australia at 10.5 per cent.
It was a different story in 2019, when voters in both Paterson and Hunter turned their votes away from Labor in significant numbers.
Historically, the Liberals have relied on votes from around Nelson Bay, while Labor has consistently dominated the polls in the blue-collar communities of Kurri Kurri and Maitland.
At the last election, Labor won the two-party preferred vote in 35 out of 46 polling places, with 66.6 per cent of the vote in Kurri Kurri down to 39.8 per cent at Corlette Community Hall.
