State election 2018: Labor’s Ringwood candidate Steve Kent quits for personal reasons

LABOR is back to the drawing board in its quest for the state seat of Ringwood after its candidate Steve Kent quit less than a month into his campaign.

LABOR is heading back to the drawing board after Ringwood candidate Steve Kent quit just weeks into his campaign.

Mr Kent pulled his hat out of the ring last week, citing personal reasons, and will no longer be running for the seat at November’s state election.

He was preselected by the party in mid-June and had been campaigning at railway stations in the electorate in recent weeks.

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Mr Kent is a Ringwood local and was also Labor’s Warrandyte candidate at the 2014 State Election.

He told Maroondah Leader he had quit because of a “private and personal matter” involving his family and he could no longer “give 100 per cent” to the campaign.

Victorian Labor Party spokesman Kosmos Samaras said the party had started searching for Mr Kent’s replacement.

Mr Samaras said the party was likely to announce its new Ringwood candidate early next month, along with its candidate for the state seat of Croydon.

Liberal incumbent Dee Ryall holds Ringwood by 5.1 per cent, while fellow Liberal and Deputy Opposition Leader David Hodgett has a 9.3 per cent buffer in Croydon.