Sandra McCarthy not only achieved a landslide victory in the Kiama local government election, but will be voted in for a ninth year as mayor when the new council meets next month.
Councillor McCarthy, who topped the weekend poll, is tipped to have three, possibly even four, members of her five-person team elected to the Kiama council.
In addition, the Kiama Greens have said they will support Cr McCarthy as mayor when the council next meets on October 21.
For the first time in decades, the Australian Labor Party is likely to have no representation on the council, with Kiama ALP president Neil Reilly fighting for his survival and Joyce Wheatley - a councillor of 28 years - unofficially eliminated from the race.
With only first preference votes counted, pre-poll and postal votes yet to be tallied and preferences still to be distributed, the final result in Kiama is not expected to be known until early next week.
However, there is a concensus that Cr McCarthy's Teamwork, Leadership, Community (TLC) team will dominate the nine seats on Kiama Municipal Council.
Cr McCarthy (TLC), Lexie Wheeler (TLC), Peter Bowman (TLC), Ben van der Wijngaart (Kiama Greens), Monique Dare-Ward (Kiama Greens) and independents Brian Petschler and Trevor Fredericks are expected to fill seven seats.
Warren Steel (We Love Kiama), Neil Reilly (Community First) and Jane Littrich (TLC) are expected to battle for the final two seats.
Cr McCarthy's team accounted for 36 per cent of first preferences, comprising 26 per cent above the line and 10 per cent for Cr McCarthy below the line.
The result represents a 10 per cent increase on the councillor's 2004 vote, when she also topped the poll in Kiama.
The Kiama Greens and Petschler-Fredericks tickets each polled 22 per cent, followed by Mr Steel's ticket with 7 per cent, Mr Reilly's ticket with 5 per cent and ungrouped candidate Brendon Comber with 3 per cent.
Cr McCarthy, who will retain the position of mayor until next month, said she was humbled by the outcome of the election.
"I am really delighted with the result and thank the community for their vote of trust in me. It has been quite humbling," she said.
Mr van der Wijngaart said the Kiama community had given a strong vote of confidence in both Cr McCarthy and the Greens, while endorsing the direction of the outgoing council.
In contrast, Mr Reilly conceded that his ticket "hadn't done well at all", adding that a fair bit of soul-searching was in order.