Liberal MP Simon Ramsay is almost certain to retain his seat for Western Victoria in the upper house in the November state election, after being placed first on the Liberal Party pre-selection ballot sheet for the region on Saturday.
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The Legislative Council member was placed ahead of former Young Liberal president and Geelong lawyer Aaron Lane.
It is uncertain where other liberal party candidates, including Ballarat City councillor Samantha McIntosh, Terang solicitor Ian Pugh and former Howard government advisor Rod Nockles, were placed on the ballot.
Victorian upper house regions have five sitting members based on a quota system similar to the federal Senate.
The Western Victorian region, reaching from Geelong to the South Australian border, is currently divided between two Liberal members, two Labor and one Nationals.
Mr Ramsay will replace retiring MP David Koch as the first Liberal candidate on the card at November elections.
Mr Ramsay said he was grateful to be considered for a seat in Western Victoria.
"I'm very grateful and thankful," Mr Ramsay said.
"You don't take anything for granted in pre-selection. Like the other candidates I made sure the delegates knew what I had been doing and the part I wanted to bring to the team."
When asked whether his placing on the ballot paper had secured him a seat in the legislative council, Mr Ramsay said there were no guarantees in politics.
"We will most likely go through as members in the upper house, but never say never in politics," he said.
"There are no guarantees."
Mr Ramsay said he was yet to be endorsed and will be later in the week.
"It is business as usual for me, I'm still a sitting member and I will continue to represent the communities in Western Victoria as best as I can," he said.
The Liberal Party of Victoria made the announcement via Twitter on Saturday afternoon.
Only Mr Ramsay and Mr Lane's ballot-paper placings were mentioned in the tweet.
Mr Ramsay said he was not at liberty to discuss where the other candidates placed.
"I had no preconceived ideas on who would be successful. Being a candidate, I did not want to offer a view on that," he said.
There are five seats covering the district shared evenly by Labor and the Liberals, with one held by the Nationals.