Council & Politics
3 April, 2026
Nats open preselection for three crucial state election seats
Preselection delegates voted for foprmer Burwood MP Graham Watt to fill the No 2 spot being vacated by Joe McCracken.
THE NATIONALS have officially started their hunt for candidates in three key seats ahead of November’s state election.
Preselection nominations opened yesterday for Ripon, Murray Plains and the Bendigo East.
Nominations close on April 9 and a candidate is expected to be named within weeks.
Former Ararat mayor Jo Armstrong is tipped for Ripon, currently held by Labor’s Martha Haylett.
Former Nationals leader Peter Walsh is retiring in Murray Plains after 24 years in Parliament while Bendigo East is held for Labor by Premier Jacinta Allan.
Meanwhile, Liberal Upper House Leader Bev McArthur retained her top spot on the party’s Western Victoria Region ticket on Saturday.
Preselection delegates voted for foprmer Burwood MP Graham Watt to fill the No 2 spot being vacated by Joe McCracken.
“They have emphatically backed an experienced, united team by preselecting Graham Watt and me as their top two Upper House candidates for the forthcoming state election,” Mrs McArthur said.
“They have said yes to a united team. Yes to politics of conviction. And yes to winning the state election. Now our job continues: holding the worst state government in the nation to account and standing up for our forgotten farmers, families, and country Victorians,” Mrs McArthur said after the convention.
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