Braddon recount winner decided

The Braddon Liberal this morning held out fellow Liberal candidate Stacey Sheehan in a recount for the seat left open by the resignation of embattled Liberal Adam Brooks.

Mr Ellis defeated Ms Sheehan by 749 votes after votes from another Liberal hopeful, Lara Hendriks, were distributed.

READ MORE: Tamar dredging headache exposed

The Liberals hold three Braddon seats and Labor two.

Mr Ellis started the day's counting 649 votes ahead of Devonport-based real estate businesswoman Ms Sheehan, with only Ms Hendriks left to be excluded.

Her votes were redistributed in several parcels, with the final one clinching the result for Mr Ellis.

READ MORE: Negligent driver offended following fatal crash

The result continued the pinball-like recent history of the Liberal-held seat in Braddon.

It was won by Mr Brooks in the 2018 election.

He resigned in 2019, following the release of an Integrity Commission report which detailed how he tried to cover up communications from a business email account.

He was replaced after a recount by former Liberal MHA Joan Rylah.

Mrs Rylah resigned in 2020 and was replaced after a recount by Mr Ellis, who was a beaten Liberal candidate in the 2018 election.

Mr Brooks won a seat in the recent state election, but resigned, forcing the latest recount.

It emerged he had been charged in Queensland with unlawful possession of a weapon, unauthorised possession of explosives and dealing with identity documents.

He indicated he would defend the charges.

Earlier, during the campaign, he was accused of using a fake driver's licence to trick women he met on dating apps.

He denied any wrongdoing.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: