The NSW Nationals are confident its candidate for the Upper Hunter David Layzell will retain the seat for the state government.
Nationals leader John Barilaro addressed his party and said the early results looked promising but he wouldn't claim victory yet.
"We're not going to claim 100 per cent tonight. As you know there's still the Muswellbrook pre-poll to come in [and] a couple of others," he said.
READ MORE: What the Upper Hunter byelection means for voters
"But on the numbers out of Singleton pre-poll, the numbers of all the booths, there's no doubt we've got a substantial lead. We'd have to go drastically wrong from here.
"So we are confident we've got victory, we are confident we have won this seat, we are confident the nationals will continue… supporting the people of the Upper Hunter."
Despite the Nationals leader not claiming victory for the party, former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has tweeted his congratulations.
https://twitter.com/TurnbullMalcolm/status/1396060862058668033?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
"And congratulations to the National Party on retaining the seat – a tribute to the great work of the Gladys Berejiklian government through the pandemic," he said on Twitter.
"But the problems caused by the unplanned expansion of coal mining have not gone away."
However, the Labor Party has not yet conceded the by-election, as candidate Jeff Drayton said "it's just too close to call"
"After years of our region sending billions down to Sydney and getting nothing in return, I asked the Upper Hunter to give me a chance to fight for our share," candidate Jeff Drayton said on Facebook.
"But right now, we aren't sure whether this community has given me that chance. It's just too close to call".
Although, Labor leader Jodi McKay already appeared to be looking past this election and onto the next.
"We have to make sure we do better," Ms McKay said.
"We have to make this region know it is a Labor region in the future. We have two years to prove to the Upper Hunter that we are a party that deserves their support."
Heavyweights at the polls
Political heavyweights descended on the NSW Upper Hunter today, with the intention to give their parties a much-needed boost at the polls.
Candidates for the Nationals, Labor, One Nation and the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers fought a close four-cornered contest, after the resignation of sitting Nationals MP Michael Johnsen, amid a sexting scandal and a rape allegation, which he denies.
Upper Hunter is a marginal electorate, where the conflicting interests of agriculture, racing and mining intersect.
It was retained by Mr Johnsen in 2019 by just 2.6 per cent. But it's a seat that's been held by the Nationals or Country Party for 90 years.
Coalition candidate Dave Layzell was joined at the polls today by NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Deputy Premier John Barilaro.
Responsibility rests on him to shift Gladys Berejiklian's numbers back up to half of the Lower House.
But she wasn't the only recognisable face on the hustings.
Pauline Hanson and Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack among the political heavyweights descending on the Upper Hunter, where voters want jobs for young people.
"There are not many jobs for young people here in the Hunter," one voter said.
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The Nationals pulled out all stops to make sure their 90-year hold on the seat doesn't end with Mr Johnsen.
The Coalition is hoping Ms Berejiklian's popularity among voters will help them to victory in the marginal seat.
She told reporters today a win in the by-election would "break the course of history".
"I mean, the average swing against a government in a by-election in the last decade and a half has been 15 per cent against a government and we only hold this seat by 2-point-something per cent," Ms Berejiklian said.
"I'm always someone who looks at the maths and the evidence and the maths and the evidence says an average swing against the government in a by-election."
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Labor candidate Jeff Drayton was flanked by party leader Jodi McKay as he cast his vote in Muswellbrook today.
"There are so many issues in this electorate, but we have listened to what they've all told us and it is that they want their fair share," Ms McKay told the media.
"They want their fair share of the mining royalties that this region generates. And they want to make sure that, as a party, Labor is protecting jobs and creating jobs."
With a conga line of minor parties and independents on the ballot paper, the results of the by-election may not be known for hours.
The Nationals Party has held the Upper Hunt seat since the 1930s.