The make-up of the upper house has changed over the past six years from one that had an independent majority.

Since 2016, the seats of Elwick, Rumney, Rosevears and Windermere have turned from independent seats to ones held by a party member.

This election could once again change how the chamber arrives at decisions on legislation and is particularly important for Labor.

If they lose the seat once held by former Labor parliamentarian Bastain Seidel this weekend, there will only be four party members in the upper house, including Legislative Council president Craig Farrell.

If the seat goes to Liberal Party candidate Aldo Antolli, the Liberals will have four members in the chamber, making the vote of the independents even more crucial.

If Labor does get its candidate up, Toby Thorpe, he will be the youngest ever member to service in the Tasmanian Legislative Council.

The election in McIntyre is likely to be the closest contest out of the three electorates on Saturday.

Generally, upper house elections tend to favour incumbents, but sitting member Tania Rattray is a chance of being outdone in the poll by high-profile independent candidate, and former Northern Midlands mayor, David Downie.

Mr Downie served three decades on the Northern Midlands Council and four years as mayor.

The Legislative Council is renowned for being a place for former councillors, earning itself the nickname 'the old mayors club'.

Sitting member Rosemary Armitage is a former deputy mayor as is Craig Farrell and Mike Gaffney is a former mayor.

Ms Rattray was a former deputy mayor before she was elected to the upper house in 2010.

Greens candidate Mitchell Houghton is the third candidate on the ballot paper this election, the first to be conducted since the electorate was renamed McIntyre after a boundary readjustment in 2017.

The new division retained area once in Apsley and took in much of the former Western Tiers electorate.

It crosses six municipal areas, including the North-East and parts of Kentish, Meander Valley, Northern Midlands north of Conara, and Glamorgan-Spring Bay.

Ms Rattray was convincingly re-elected back to her seat in 2016, winning more than half of the primary vote.

She faced independent candidate Brett Hall, Labor candidate Darren Clark and Greens candidate Sophie Houghton in that election.

Ms Rattray said she believed she had fulfilled her obligations as a voice for McIntyre constituents in the Legislative Council as well as a problem solver on the ground in the electorate over the past six years.

"There are all manner of things that that I've been able to assist with," she said.

"I facilitate, I assist, I knock on doors, I present issues and I get some pretty good results.

"It's a big electorate. There are 66 communities in McIntyre and they are all busy."

Ms Rattray said the main issues raised with her during the campaign had been ongoing restrictions imposed on people who weren't fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and climate change.

Mr Downie said cost of living pressures and access to general practitioners were the main issues raised with him as he worked his way around McIntyre.

"But I think people see Tasmania going pretty well with agriculture and this is a lot of agriculture in McIntyre," he said.

"There's a lot of investment going on with water development and with on-farm investment so that's that's really helping underpin the economy of the whole of the state."

Voters in Huon were not expected to go to polls for an upper house election until 2026, but that was before former Labor member Bastian Siedel resigned, blaming the toxicity and infighting within his party contributing for to an unworkable environment.

Young Labor candidate Toby Thorpe is the party's hope that it can retain the seat and keep five members in the chamber.

A former Young Australian of the Year, Mr Thorpe ran last year's state election in Franklin and collected 1753 first-preference votes.

Also in the contest for the seat is Local Party candidate and anti-pokies campaigner Pat Caplice, Greens candidate and Kingborough councillor Gideon Cordover, Liberal candidate and Pathways Tasmania chief executive Aldo Antolli, and independent candidate Dean Harriss.

Mr Harriss' father Paul held the seat in Huon as an independent for 18 years before he was elected to the House of Assembly in Franklin as part of the Liberal Government in 2014.

Mr Harriss came in third place in the 2020 Huon election with 4026 primary votes, which was 467 less than the first-preference votes collected by outgoing incumbent Robert Armstrong.

His vote pull in that election makes him a serious contender to replace the popular Dr Seidel.

Labor incumbent Josh Willie is up for re-election after having taken the seat from former independent Adriana Taylor in 2016.

The former primary school teacher polled strongly, winning 53 per cent of the primary vote that year.

The electorate takes in the northern part of the Clark electorate which generally tends to favour Labor candidates during elections.

Mr Willie has received praise for his constituency work and routinely asks questions during Question Time in the Legislative Council.

However, he received criticism for voting in favour of the state government's amended future gaming legislation, due to poker machine addiction issues within his electorate.

Along with poker machine usage, the lack of affordable housing within his electorate has remained a persistent issue with rents in the major centres of Glenorchy and Moonah on average close to $500 for a three-bedroom house.

Mr Willie is up against two candidates in this election, Rick Cazaly for the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party and Greens candidate Hannah Bellamy.

Mr Cazaly, the grandson of legendary VFL footballer Roy Cazaly, is a fitness entrepreneur and has a particular interest in men's physical and mental health.

During his campaign, Mr Cazaly has suggested that the state government require councils to withhold the normal fees and charges associated with housing developments to make purchases prices more affordable. Ms Bellamy is a lawyer who specialises in environmental law.

At the launch of her candidancy, she said she was raised in a single-parent household, and as a survivor of domestic abuse, she understood how critical a strong public and social network of services was.

The Liberals did not select a candidate to run.