Sudmalis happy she did her best

LIBERAL candidate Ann Sudmalis has congratulated Matt Brown on his re-election, but said she hoped he would take care of his constituents.

"In my campaign, I found many people did not feel that was happening," she said.

"I told him, it"s an amazing, wonderful group of people in this electorate and you need to take care of them."

Mrs Sudmalis said she did her "level best" in the campaign.

"I had only four months and two weeks, so all things considered it was not too bad," she said.

She spent Saturday visiting all 27 polling booths in the Kiama electorate before getting drenched in the evening downpour.

On election night, the mood in her campaign office was subdued, with no television or radio blaring to let herself and her campiagners know the results as they came in.

As for Mr Brown"s complaints that he was "standing against two Liberals", because of the amount of support Federal MP Joanna Gash gave the campaign, Mrs Sudmalis said she was lucky to have the support.

"I was lucky enough to have the mentorship of a woman I think is an outstanding politician and if he felt threatened by it, that"s his problem," she said.

Another tilt at the seat was still on the cards, but for now Mrs Sudmalis said she would take a little time out to consider her position.

"People have got to know I"m more than a one time wonder," she said. "My aim is to stay in politics; keep my awareness up so no one thinks they"ve been taken for granted.

"A lot of people said they felt disenfranchised (by the result) and I still want to be there for them."

But she won"t be doing that from her Kiama campaign office, which will soon be demolished to make way for an apartment block.