By Violet Li
Independent Shane Taylor won the 2024 Casey Council election and will represent Kowan Ward in the next four years.
Mr Taylor addressed the public at the result declaration in Bunjil Place on Friday 8 November.
He admitted it was a very tight race, and he was very surprised to be elected.
“But I don’t take the fact that I’m elected lightly. I believe that Casey does need good representation,” he said.
“We need a strong voice in Casey. We need good people to stand up and represent the people. So that’s why I ran. And I’d like to thank all the people that supported me through the process.
“I had an incredible team, people behind me and the community.”
To be elected in Kowan Ward, a candidate is required to secure an absolute majority vote of 8105.
For the primary vote, Labor member Kasuni Mendis topped the game at 3490 votes. Bernard Brian Carr seconded the place at 3139 votes. Libertarian Christine Skrobo had 3109 votes, Shane Taylor 3061, Jawad Erfani 1358, Joby George 921, Gagan Bumrah 622, and Labor member Raj Nayak 508.
In the first round of the preferential distribution, Raj Nayak’s 508 votes went to the voters’ next preferred candidate. Gagan Bumrah received the most at 134 votes, and Kasuni Mendis the second most at 113. Raj Nayak and Kasuni Mendis publicly preferenced each other on their how-to-vote cards.
In the second round of the preferential distribution, Gagan Bumrah’s 756 votes went to the voters’ next preferred candidate. Kasuni Mendis was allocated the most of them with 294 votes.
In the third round, Joby George’s 1050 votes went to the voters’ next preferred candidate and Kasuni Mendis was allocated the most of them with 384 votes. Shane Taylor received the second most with 280 votes. Joby George and Shane Taylor publicly preferenced each other on their how-to-vote cards.
In the fourth round, Jawad Erfani’s 1564 votes went to the voters’ next preferred candidate. Christine Skrobo and Kasuni Mendis were allocated a similar number of votes at 453 and 445. Bernard Brian Carr received 368 votes and Shane Taylor 298. Kasuni Mendis had a lead of 831 votes over the second spot Christine Skrobo at the end of this round.
In the fifth round where Bernard Brian Carr’s 3777 votes were distributed, Shane Taylor gained a huge advantage after receiving 2409 votes. His votes came to 6219, about 800 votes ahead of Kasuni Mendis who only secured 655 preferences in this round.
In the last round where Christine Skrobo’s votes were distributed, Shane Taylor and Kasuni Mendis were allocated a similar number of votes at 2251 and 2357. Shane Taylor maintained the advantage from the previous round and won the ward with 8470 votes. Kasuni Mendis lost with 7738 votes.
Ms Mendis, said on her Facebook that she was disheartened, disappointed and heartbroken after losing her second council election.
“Despite having achieved the highest primary vote in my ward, the distribution of preferences did not go my way, and I have come in second,” she said.
“I’ll do a big thank you post later but I have to say a massive thanks to the 3490 people that chose me to be their voice. Your vote of confidence in me is humbling.
“I know there’s a lot of community members who are disappointed by this result and for that I’m really sorry. I wanted to make residents feel seen, heard and respected and I’m deeply honoured that for a large portion of you, I was your chosen voice. I want to acknowledge that this is a hard time for those in our community who supported me, believed in me and felt represented by me so passionately.
“It’s easy to feel that no matter how hard I tried, that it’s hard to beat the boys club, but I’m proud of the fact that I was true and honest about who I was- I ran a campaign of integrity and didn’t play political games and sell my soul or my values out for the sake of getting elected.
“Unfortunately, I’ve had a glimpse into why so many people feel lied to and taken for granted by politics and I now understand why so many feel disillusioned by politics.”
