WITH less than three weeks until the Victorian state election, nominations have closed for candidates planning to contest the poll.
At the time of printing, nine candidate nominations for the seat of Nepean had been posted onto the Victorian Electoral Commission’s website: Kim Robbins (Independent), Joseph Toscano (Independent), Sianan Healy (Greens), Seth Willcocks (Victorian Socialists), Surbhi Snowball (Labor), Anthony Marsh (Liberal), Darren Hercus (One Nation), Mike Brown (Family First), and Tamara Champion (Animal Justice Party).
Three of the candidates (Marsh, Healy and Hercus) contested the by-election in May that saw Marsh win with a margin of around 13 per cent.
Labor did not contest that poll, so the entry of Surbhi Snowball for Labor will likely change the dynamics of this election.
It is also a reunion, of sorts, for Brown and Toscano, who both contested the federal election for the seat of Flinders in 2025
Toscano ran as an independent, while Brown ran as a candidate for One Nation. He is now contesting the seat for Family First.
Snowball ran for Labor in Flinders in 2022, attracting nearly 22 per cent of the primary vote.
Robbins steps into the shoes of by-election Independent candidate Tracee Hutchison, and hopes to build on the over 21 per cent of primary votes she garnered in the absence of Labor.
Hercus too will be hoping to build on his over 24 per cent of primary votes in the by-election.
Hot topics in Nepean include the rebuilding of Rosebud Hospital, law and order and the state of road infrastructure.
The state election will be held on Saturday 28 November.
First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 11 November 2026
