2015 Davenport state by-election|
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First party
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Second party
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Third party
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Candidate
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Sam Duluk
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Mark Ward
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Jody Moate
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Party
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Liberal
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Labor
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Greens
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Popular vote
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9,740
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6,927
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2,584
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Percentage
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46.9%
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33.4%
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12.5%
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Swing
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4.1pp
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4.8pp
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2.8pp
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TPP
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53.1%
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46.9%
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TPP swing
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5.0pp
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5.0pp
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A by-election for the seat of Davenport in the South Australian House of Assembly was held on 31 January 2015. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of Liberal Party of Australia MP and former Liberal leader Iain Evans, who retained the seat at the 2014 election on a 58.1 (−2.8) percent two-party-preferred vote.[1][2][3] Liberal Sam Duluk went on to win the seat despite a five-point two-party swing, turning the historically safe seat of Davenport in to a marginal for the first time.[4]
The by-election was held on the same day as the 2015 Queensland state election.
Date
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Event[5]
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3 January 2015
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Writ of election issued by the Governor
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13 January 2015
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Close of electoral rolls
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16 January 2015
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Close of nominations
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31 January 2015
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Polling day, between the hours of 8 am and 6 pm
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Liberal Sam Duluk won the seat with a -4.1 point swing, with the Liberal party failing to win outright and relying on preferences.[4] South Australian Newspoll at the time of the Davenport by-election recorded a statewide seven percent two-party swing from Liberal to Labor[citation needed]. ABC election analyst Antony Green described the Davenport by-election as "another poor result for the South Australian Liberal Party"[9] following the 2014 Fisher by-election which saw Labor go from minority to majority government following a 7.3 percent two-party swing.[10] As with the Fisher by-election, much of the anti-Liberal swing was attributed to the unpopularity of then Prime Minister Tony Abbott, and a remark from then Defence Minister David Johnston several days before the Fisher by-election that he wouldn't trust South Australia's Australian Submarine Corporation to "build a canoe".[11][12][13] Additionally, just a couple of days before the Davenport by-election, Abbott's infamous knighting of Prince Philip occurred.[14][15][16]