Fifth-placed candidate pulls a Bradbury to defeat longtime Labor councillor in by-election
- Leonardo Puglisi
- Aug 13
- 3 min read
Updated: Oct 30
In an extraordinary result, independent candidate Michael Labrador has won the Lalor Ward by-election.
A candidate sitting in fifth place on primary votes has won the Lalor Ward by-election in Melbourne's Whittlesea City Council, in one of the most extraordinary election results at any level of government you'll see this year.
Michael Labrador, sitting fifth with a 11.23% primary vote, has leaped over four other candidates to claim victory on the two-candidate-preferred count, defeating longtime Labor councillor Stevan Kozmevski.
That victory came ahead of fourth-placed Ellen McNaught (independent, 11.98%), third-placed Belinda Stojcevski (independent, 12.33%), Omar Hassan (Victorian Socialists, 15.47%) and Kozmevski (22.27%).
Early preference distributions seen by 6 News on Tuesday morning – after the exclusion of Burhanuddin Mohammed, Samu Uprety, and Victoria Edge – showed William Sharp at 5.6%, Mary Krassos at 6.4%, Rex Nicholson at 8.8%, Michael Labrador at 12.2%, McNaught at 13%, Stojcevski at 13.6%, Hassan at 17.1% and Kozmevski at 23.2%.
That second position for Hassan, who also ran for the Victorian Socialists in Scullin at the federal election, saw some belief that the Socialists could pull off an upset victory. But that wasn't to be.
As further candidate exclusions took place (the specifics of which are not yet available), Labrador was able to pull ahead. It appears possible that he received donkey votes from Nicholson voters (Nicholson was first on the ballot paper, Labrador was third) and further preferences got him over the line with 52.43% of the two-candidate-preferred vote.
Kozmevski is a longtime Labor member who was first elected as an endorsed councillor in March 1997, describing himself on pamphlets as "a proud member of the Australian Labor Party".
During the campaign, attention was drawn to Nicholson, Edge and Krassos sharing the same authorisation address on their how-to-vote cards, which the Star Weekly reported was also "used by at least four other [endorsed] Labor candidates during last October's Whittlesea council election".
6 News understands Nicholson is Labor-affiliated, but was not endorsed, and it's not clear if Edge and Krassos are party members. Kozmevski was officially endorsed in 2024, but not in this by-election, although for all intents and purposes he was the Labor candidate this time as well.
As for Labrador himself, he describes himself as a "Christian, a Father, a Husband, and a Healthcare Professional", and has already promised to donate his councillor salary to charity. Much of his social media posts have focused around running a grassroots campaign and "bringing back accountability" to council.
In a Facebook comment last month, he's called for working with residents and sporting clubs for shared street use, "whether it's building new parking spaces (which we have more than enough land for), widening roads, or designating residential parking as permit only or putting time limits".
He's also said he "[shares] sentiment that Christian values have been put by the wayside, despite them being the cornerstone of Australia since our founding. It's even more unfortunate that even having Australian flags up and singing our national anthem is 'inflammatory'".
Victorian Liberal upper house member Evan Mulholland posted support on social media for "my friend Michael Labrador who will be a great Whittlesea Councillor for the good people of Lalor". Labrador had Kozmevski second-last on his own how-to-vote card, only ahead of Hassan.
During the campaign, Labrador stated he was not a member of a political party. Speaking to 6 News, he has now confirmed that he joined the Liberal Party after voting closed on 1 August, although he remains unendorsed.
The by-election was called after the 2024 results were voided in May of this year. The Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) raised concerns last year over "suspected fraudulently completed ballots".
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, "the first preferences on the stolen votes were allocated to Nicholas Hajichristou", who ran as a candidate for the "Community Independents" group led by Aidan McLindon and had 27.2% of first preference votes. The VEC does not suggest Kozmevski or any other candidate was involved in the fraud. 6 News also makes no suggestion that any candidate at the 2024 local elections was involved.
