THE race to be the Liberal candidate for next year’s federal election has become clearer with lawyer Sarah Wade set to battle it out with farmer and mental health advocate Nick Shady.
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However, voters will be forced to wait months to hear who the successful nominee will be with a decision not expected to be made until January.
The Courier revealed last week that Mr Shady intended to nominate, however, the nomination of Ms Wade was only revealed early on Monday morning.
Ms Wade is the principal at Employers Legal, a law firm specialising in legal advice for employers.
She confirmed to The Courier that she had nominated, however, would not provide any more comment.
When contacted on Friday, Mr Shady confirmed he had been encouraged to nominate for pre-selection, however, could not add any more details until the process was finalised next year.
Sources have told The Courier it is expected a local pre-selection will be held in Ballarat towards the end of January.
A number of other seats across Victoria are also undergoing the Liberal Party pre-selection process.
Current Ballarat MP Catherine King holds a 4.9 per cent lead in the seat on a two party preferred basis with 2013 Liberal candidate John Fitzgibbon achieving a 6.8 per cent swing at the past election.
Many within the Liberal Party see the seat as winnable if the momentum achieved by the appointment of Malcolm Turnbull as prime minister continues up until the election.
The party has achieved very strong polling results since former PM Tony Abbott vacated the position.
It is not known exactly when the election will be held, however, it is expected to be towards the end of 2016.
Ballarat has been high on the agenda of the Labor Party for the past couple of months, with the city having repeated visits from high profile MPs.
Bill Shorten, Tanya Plibersek, Anthony Albanese, Penny Wong, Kate Ellis and Chris Bowen have all spent time in the region.
