Graham frontrunner to replace Ellis

City of Greater Geraldton councillor Laurie Graham has emerged as Labor’s likely replacement for Renee Ellis in the March State election.

WA Labor’s State executive is expected to meet today to finalise a four-candidate ticket for the Upper House Agricultural Region.

Number one on the ticket is sitting member Darren West.

Number two was to be Cr Ellis, a lawyer and Geraldton councillor, until she withdrew from the election race on Wednesday.

Nominees for ticket places two to four, in no particular order, are Cr Graham, Carol Martin and Luke Charlton.

Cr Graham, a city councillor with more than a decade of local government experience and a former port authority general manager, ran for the seat of Geraldton in the 1997 election.

The long-time Labor supporter said he decided last Friday to nominate, because he wanted to help try to lift the party’s vote in the electorate.

Ms Martin is a former member for Kimberley in State Parliament and the first Aboriginal woman elected to an Australian Parliament.

Mr Charlton, 21, is a finance and political science student at UWA and former Nagle Catholic College head boy.