Mayor re-elected for sixth term despite strange and negative campaigning.

Clover Moore has just been re-elected as lord mayor for the City of Sydney, making this her sixth term in office. This is a historic achievement, as she has been in this position since 2004. She celebrated her victory at the ArtHouse Hotel last night, surrounded by supporters and her team.

Moore was also gracious enough to share a message on social media, expressing her gratitude for the people of Sydney and her excitement to continue making the city the best place to live, work, and visit. Her Instagram caption read, "Thank you, Sydney! I am grateful for your support, and excited about continuing the work to ensure our city is the best place to live, work in and visit."

Despite facing nine other candidates, Moore seemed to have won comfortably with 37% of first preferences, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. In her victory speech, she acknowledged the intense competition and the negative attacks she faced during the campaign.

"There was a sense of real desperation about trying to get me out of Town Hall," Moore revealed. "That was expressed in the candidates' forums, which I think were pretty nasty. No one really talked about fresh ideas or new policy, they were just attacking me. It was a pretty weird campaign, actually."

The counting of votes was paused at 10pm yesterday and will resume on Monday, as the NSW Electoral Commission prioritizes the health and safety of their staff and scrutineers. Acting NSW Electoral Commissioner Dr Matthew Phillips assured that their staff will have a well-deserved break before resuming the counting on Monday.

This year's local council elections were unlike any other, as the Liberal party missed the deadline to nominate more than 130 candidates across 14 local councils. This caused smaller parties to see an opportunity to take advantage of the situation, resulting in some candidates running uncontested in five councils and nine individual wards.

Despite the challenges and changes in this year's elections, more than 1.3 million NSW voters cast their ballots early in pre-polling, and about five million voters turned up to polling stations across the state yesterday. This shows the dedication and commitment of the people of NSW to participate in their local council elections and make their voices heard.

[This article has been trending online recently and has been generated with AI. Your feed is customized.]