THE Liberal Party is expected to tonight ratify former Ballarat City councillor Ben Taylor as its Buninyong candidate for the November state election.
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Mr Taylor, who narrowly missed victory in the last election in the former seat of Ballarat East, was the only person to nominate in the seat.
But he still had to go through a ratification process before he could be formally endorsed.
The Liberal Party’s administration committee meets tonight to ratify candidates who are the only applicants for their seats and is expected to support Mr Taylor’s bid.
The race between councillor Samantha McIntosh and businessman Craig Coltman for the new state seat of Wendouree will be decided on March 18.
Mr Coltman stood in the seat of Ballarat West at the 2010 state election, losing to incumbent Sharon Knight but narrowing the margin to just over one per cent.
Cr McIntosh has previously stood for the National Party in Western Victoria region in 2006, as a federal Liberal candidate for Ballarat in 2007 and was elected to Ballarat City Council in 2008 and re-elected in 2012.
Current Ballarat Labor MPs Sharon Knight and Geoff Howard have also indicated they will run again in the November poll.
