Andrew Lethlean undecided on whether to challenge Jacinta Allan in Bendigo East
Andrew Lethlean is yet to decide if he will run in next year's state election. (ABC News: Sarah Lawrence)
In short:
The Nationals are eyeing the Victorian premier's electorate of Bendigo East ahead of next year's state election.
Publican Andrew Lethlean is yet to decide if he will run as a candidate after achieving a big swing against Labor in the federal poll.
What's next?
The Nationals will not confirm a candidate until at least April next year.
The Victorian National Party's main hope to wrest the Bendigo electorate from Premier Jacinta Allan is yet to commit to running in next year's state poll.
Bendigo publican Andrew Lethlean has been touted as the strongest potential candidate for the Bendigo East seat after achieving a huge swing against Labor in May's federal election.
However, he is not yet a confirmed candidate.
"Not going to make any decisions yet. I'm just going to wait and see what happens next year," Mr Lethlean said.
After two-party preferences, he lost by just 2,983 votes to Labor's Lisa Chesters in May, representing a swing of 48.6 per cent towards the Nationals.
The Nationals hope he can continue the momentum at next year's state election.
"Andrew [Lethlean] has demonstrated he's a local champion, well known and well respected in the community, and we would love to have him continue to serve our party and the wider community," Victorian Nationals leader Danny O'Brien said.
"We think there is a mood for change and an opportunity for us in the seat of Bendigo East.
Mr Lethlean said he was concentrating on his work because it was busy and he did not want to take his "foot off the pedal".
"Obviously, they've [the Nationals] encouraged me to put my hand up but I just want to focus on work because I've neglected it for 12 months," he said.
Jacinta Allan says she never takes her Bendigo East electorate for granted. (ABC News)
Waiting game
Mr O'Brien said the Nationals would not reveal their candidate in the target seat until at least April.
He said the Nationals had seen a recent boost in membership numbers in Victoria.
"The emergency services levy has been a reason for many people joining and off the back of the federal election, we had a lot of supporters in Bendigo who enjoyed backing Andrew Lethlean's campaign."
The Victorian Opposition is also looking to target the seats of Ripon, Benambra, Bass, South Barwon and Bellarine at the state election.
Chris Stoltz says transport will be a big state election issue in Bendigo East. (ABC News: Sarah Lawrence)
Hard to beat
Premier Jacinta Allan was first elected to Bendigo East in 1999 when she won it from the Liberal party at the age of 25.
She told the ABC, 27 years later, she took nothing for granted.
"I will continue to work hard for Bendigo as well as premier," she said.
"It's an absolute joy and privilege to represent the community I was born in, I grew up in, I'm raising my own family in with my husband.
"My kids go to local schools and play local sport."
Bendigo Liberal Party member Chris Stoltz said he felt the premier would be hard to beat in her local electorate.
"Bendigo people are generally proud of Jacinta and her advancement to becoming premier," he said.
"The Liberal Party will find it difficult to mount a successful challenge.
"There are no obvious potential candidates who have a profile that matches Jacinta Allan."
But if Mr Lethlean was to run, Mr Stoltz said it could be an "interesting contest".
Jacinta Allan gained her first ministry at just 29. (ABC News)
"To me, Andrew has a natural strength in relating to local people, whereas Jacinta might be advised to shed the hard hats and hi-vis vests in Melbourne and instead shake a few more hands in Bendigo," he said.
The Bendigo engineer said transport issues were likely to be a hot topic by next November.
"Over recent years, there's no doubt Bendigo's train services have improved and the cost of train travel has gone down," he said.
"However, the standard of roads in the region has deteriorated significantly since COVID.
"Bendigo people feel a bit peeved at seeing billions of dollars spent or wasted on metropolitan infrastructure, whilst their roads appear to be crumbling."
City of Greater Bendigo Mayor Thomas Prince agreed that transport issues would be high on the "council wishlist" for the state election.
"There are several intersections with huge concerns from our community about safety that need upgrades," he said.
Mr Prince said Greater Bendigo had become a politically "competitive market".
"We saw in the federal election we started to get love from all sides, so there's a bit of competition," he said.
"There seems to be an appetite for stronger, more robust conversations on how we're represented."