Casey Farrell defeats Michelle Dracoulis to become Derwent Valley mayor

The Derwent Valley has a new mayor, with 37-year-old former state Labor Party representative Casey Farrell defeating incumbent Mayor Michelle Dracoulis in the 2026 Tasmanian Government Elections.

Farrell secured the Mayor position, holding 3,842 (60.4%) of the votes, while Michelle Dracoulis received 2,515 (39.6%) after five counts and exclusions.

Casey Farrell is no stranger to politics, having been elected to the House of Assembly in March 2025 on a countback after Rebecca White’s resignation to run for federal parliament.

However, he lost his seat in Lyons after the July 2025 state election.

He is the eldest son of Lee and Craig Farrell, the President of the Tasmanian Legislative Council and local member for Derwent.

Mayor-elect Farrell said: “I'm humbled by the result and thank the community for putting their faith in me".

Mr Farrell also thanked outgoing Mayor Michelle Dracoulis for her time and effort and said: "I look forward to working with Michelle and the other councillors that are elected". 

Farrell was just 2 points ahead of Dracoulis after first-preference votes were counted, holding at 24.9% to 22.9%.

New and first-time running candidate Neil Biggar secured 30% of the votes after round four of recounting and was just 0,7% behind Dracoulis to be excluded from round five, passing on 1,977 votes and 1,254 votes to Farrell for the win.

Outgoing Mayor Michelle Dracoulis thanked everyone who had supported and trusted her during her time in office. 

Dracoulis said: “After four and a half years, I'm looking forward to having a bit more room and time just to be me".

So far, around 50% of councillor votes have been counted.

Seven Derwent Valley councillor positions are still up for grabs, with Farrell, Dracoulis and Biggar early shoe-ins, and Julie Triffett, Jess Burns, Luke Browning and Ben Shaw likely to take the remaining seats according to the provisional count.

Phillip Bigg was closest to making an impact, with Justin Derksen, Wayne Shoobridge, Sara Lowe and Phil Bingley set to lose their seats, and former Councillor Matt Hill also set not to win one back.

Deputy Mayor votes have not been counted yet.