 His election was made possible by a strong flow of preferences from the Democratic Labor Party and from former Liberal member Alex Buchanan, who was running as an independent after losing his Liberal endorsement to Barrie Armitage.On polling day, Hewson picked up enough preferences from the DLP and Buchanan to overtake Armitage on the third count.He then won the seat on the fourth count after Armitage's preferences flowed overwhelmingly to him.