Rebecca Stephens and Tom Brough lead race for Albany council in primary votes as counting continues

Rebecca Stephens and Tom Brough have emerged as frontrunners in the race for a spot on Albany’s new council, leading the primary vote tally on Monday afternoon as counting continues.

The high-profile political pair previously went head-to-head in the State election back in March, both touted as favourites for the Albany seat that ended up in the hands of underdog Nationals candidate Scott Leary.

At 2pm on Monday, almost all the primary votes had been allocated among the 23 candidates contesting four vacant council positions.

Ms Stephens, who served as a City of Albany councillor from 2017 before beginning her stint as Albany’s Labor MP in 2021, was on Monday leading the first-preference tally with about 1900 votes.

She is followed by her former Liberal rival, emergency doctor Cr Tom Brough, who holds just under 1400 votes and hopes to secure his second term around the table.

Third position is held by the longest-serving member of the current council, Robert Sutton, who is firming up his position with about 1170 votes.

The race for the fourth spot remains tightly contested between outgoing Albany Youth Support Association boss Ian Clarke (900 primary votes) and historian and incumbent councillor Malcolm Traill (850).

They are followed by forced adoption advocate Jennifer McRae who holds about 700 votes, and ex-One Nation State candidate Michelle Kinsella, who has about 600.

Following the top seven in order are James Macfarlane, Gerrit Ballast, Merlyn Moon, Adrian Fry, Juliet Bateman, Bethany Findlay, Sarah Taylor, Delma Baesjou, Caleb Griffiths, Caitlin Rose Moran, Andrea Moss, Tamara Frewen, Amanda Cruse, Fabian Hardey, Lynda Mellows and Melenna Cooper.

The primary vote will be counted twice under the careful eye of scrutineers before preferences are distributed from the candidates with the lowest amount of votes.

The cities of Albany and Cockburn are the only two local government areas where no results — provisional or finalised — have been declared.

The Advertiser understands the results of the election are likely to be announced late on Monday or early Tuesday.

Results in the shires of Denmark and Plantagenet have already been declared.