A by-election was held for the Victorian Legislative Assembly seat of Altona on 13 February 2010, following the sudden resignation of state Transport Minister Lynne Kosky on 18 January, who cited a family member's health as the reason for her decision to leave politics. [1] Altona is widely considered a safe Labor seat, Kosky won over 60% of the primary vote at the 2006 state election.
The Labor Party's Jill Hennessy, a lawyer who sits on the board of Western Health, won the seat despite a 13 percent swing away from Labor. The Liberals and Greens went up by 11 percent and 2 percent respectively. Hennessy retained the seat in the November 2010 state election.
The following candidates nominated; they are listed in ballot-paper order. [2]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | Jill Hennessy | 18,249 | 47.50 | −13.11 | |
| Liberal | Mark Rose | 13,427 | 34.95 | +11.06 | |
| Greens | David Strangward | 4,006 | 10.43 | +2.01 | |
| Independent | Liz Mumby | 693 | 1.80 | +1.80 | |
| Independent | Brijender Nain | 634 | 1.65 | +1.65 | |
| Independent | Brian Shaw | 623 | 1.62 | +1.62 | |
| Socialist Alliance | Margarita Windisch | 607 | 1.58 | +1.58 | |
| Independent | Andrew Rixon | 182 | 0.47 | +0.47 | |
| Total formal votes | 38,421 | 95.18 | +1.29 | ||
| Informal votes | 1,947 | 4.82 | −1.29 | ||
| Turnout | 40,368 | 93.69 | −9.03 | ||
| Two-party-preferred result | |||||
| Labor | Jill Hennessy | 22,252 | 57.93 | −12.28 | |
| Liberal | Mark Rose | 16,160 | 42.07 | +12.28 | |
| Labor hold | Swing | −12.28 | |||