Mayo candidates Rebekha Sharkie and Georgina Downer feel heat as Super Saturday approaches

THE leading contenders for the federal seat of Mayo are feeling a bit battered and bruised but say it’s all part of politics.

THE leading contenders for the federal seat of Mayo are feeling a bit battered and bruised but say it’s all part of politics.

Centre Alliance candidate Rebekha Sharkie said the campaign for Saturday’s by-election has been “very dirty” while Liberal Georgina Downer admitted the six-week run to the poll has been “really, really tough”.

“But I did grow up in politics,” Ms Downer told ABC radio on Wednesday.

“When you decide to put yourself forward to serve your community, you have to do that with your eyes wide open.”

Ms Sharkie took particular aim at posters around the electorate featuring her next to Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, as part of a bid to paint as more pro-Labor than her record suggests.

Centre Alliance candidate Rebekha Sharkie campaigning at a pre-poll booth in Victor Harbor. Picture: AAP Image/David Mariuz

But Ms Sharkie said the campaign waged against her was nothing less than she expected.

“I knew it was coming. It’s classic,” she said.

“It’s any wonder why most people who are ordinary Australians don’t want to put their hand up for parliament.”

Ms Downer said she had taken criticism over her bid to secure her father’s former seat while her social media accounts had also been trolled.

The candidates’ comments came as they continued to spruik for support across the sprawling Adelaide Hills electorate visiting local communities and greeting voters at pre-poll centres.

Ms Sharkie has waged her campaign with limited resources but has been backed by federal independents including Bob Katter and Andrew Wilkie.

Meanwhile, a string of Liberal Party heavyweights have come to Adelaide to offer their endorsement for Ms Downer.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has visited twice, as well as former prime minister John Howard and senior Liberals Julie Bishop, Greg Hunt, Michaelia Cash, Simon Birmingham and Nationals Leader Michael McCormack.

Ms Sharkie won Mayo at the last federal election but was forced to resign earlier this year after being caught up in the dual-citizenship saga. She holds the seat with a five per cent margin.

Liberal candidate for Mayo Georgina Downer campaigning with her father and former local member Alexander Downer. Picture: AAP Image/David Mariuz

Ms Downer is seeking to follow in her father Alexander’s footsteps, pictured, after he held the seat for more than 20 years.

On Wednesday, she also went in to bat for local distillers, revealing she had written to Treasurer Scott Morrison about a six-monthly excise for spirits.

The excise, applied twice a year, is seen by the industry as a significant handbrake.

Ms Downer said tax relief for the fast growing distilling industry “would enable them to invest more in their businesses” in a move that would be good for tourism and exports.

Ms Sharkie said she would support any measures to make it easier for the “small players” because Mayo was becoming the “gin distillery of SA”.