2013 Greater Geelong mayoral by-election

A by-election for the City of Greater Geelong mayor occurred on 24 November 2013. This by-election was triggered by the resignation of Geelong's first directly elected mayor Keith Fagg and saw Darryn Lyons of the Liberal Party become Geelong's second directly elected mayor with a first-preference vote of 29.79%. Lyons' nearest rival, Stephanie Asher, achieved a primary vote of 14.43%.

City of Greater Geelong Mayoral By-Election, 2013

← 2012 24 November 2013 2017 →
Turnout	78.26% [1]
Candidate Darryn Lyons Stephanie Asher Party Liberal Independent Popular vote 38,406 18,606 Percentage 29.79% 14.43%
Mayor before election Keith Fagg Independent Elected mayor Darryn Lyons Liberal

Background

Geelong's first directly elected mayor, Keith Fagg, resigned from his position in August 2013, just over a year following his election, citing health reasons.^[2]

Campaign

Over the course of the mayoral campaign, the local media focused heavily on Darryn Lyons and former mayor Ken Jarvis.

On 6 November, the Geelong Advertiser hosted a Mayoral candidate forum with a crowd of over 600 people, and Ken Jarvis won the exit poll which was taken by 200 people.^[3]

Controversy arose when Geelong businessman Frank Costa publicly backed Jarvis; stating that the "state government wouldn't muck around" and that it "may intervene and sack the council if Ken Jarvis isn't elected".^[4] The next day, however, Victorian Premier Denis Napthine, along with Costa, denied claims that the council would be sacked.^[5][6]

Candidates

A total of 16 candidates ran in this election.:

Candidate nominations
	Independent	Lily Stefanovic
	Independent	Stephen Yewdall
	Independent	Greg Jones
	Independent	Stephanie Asher
	Liberal	Darryn Lyons
	Victorian Greens	Greg Lacey
	Labor	John Mitchell	Former Mayor of Geelong.
	Liberal	Kenneth Edward Jarvis	Former Mayor of Geelong.
	Independent	Margarette Lewis
	Independent	Tom O'Conner
	Independent	Anthony Aitken
	Independent	John Smith
	Independent	Rodger Marsden
	Liberal	Angelo Kakouros
	Independent	John Robert Irvine	Current councillor representing Geelong's Austin Ward.
	Independent	Doug Mann

Results