Maria Kovacic knocks Andrew Constance out of NSW Liberal senate race

In a hotly contested NSW senate race, former NSW Liberal Party president Maria Kovacic has won selection against former NSW minister Andrew Constance to fill the vacancy created by the death of Jim Molan.

Former NSW Liberal Party president and western Sydney business woman Maria Kovacic has beaten ex-Perrottet government minister Andrew Constance for the Senate vacancy by just 44 votes.

After securing endorsement by popular former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian, some Liberals believed Mr Constance had the edge in the lead-up to the selection.

However, the moderate faction had been split in its support for the two left-wing candidates.

Ms Kovacic also benefited from votes from the centre-right faction.

It was the second attempt by both Mr Constance and Ms Kovacic to kickstart a Canberra career.

Mr Constance just missed out on securing the seat of Gilmore at the last federal election while Ms Kovacic unsuccessfully ran for the seat of Parramatta.

Maria Kovacic.

Andrew Constance.

The victory by Ms Kovacic was being hailed as a win for moderate factional powerbrokers Senator Andrew Bragg and former NSW treasurer Matt Kean.

It is understood Mr Constance had the support of a group including former NSW sports minister and moderate Stuart Ayres and Senator Marise Payne.

Right-wing candidate Jess Collins came in third, followed by John Howard-backed Space Industry Association of Australia (SIAA) chief executive officer James Brown, former federal MP Fiona Scott and disability advocate David Brady.

Some Liberals had been critical of Ms Kovacic who had quit the NSW Liberal presidency role after less than a year in the job.

Ms Kovacic was also criticised for the nomination process being dragged out.

The Senate spot was made vacant following the death of Jim Molan in January.

Mr Bragg described Ms Kovacic as a leader.

“She’ll never be a passenger, she’ll always be a leader,” he said. “She’s never going to be someone else’s talking point.”

Describing the win as a “changing of the guard”, Mr Kean said Ms Kovacic would make a “huge contribution” to the party.

Ms Kovacic, who co-founded Western Sydney Women and Western Sydney Executive Women, and was a part of the Parramatta Eels’ NRLW Advisory Committee and steering committee for Women@Eels, previously ran unsuccessfully for the federal seat of Parramatta.