Several Hunter councils may be without a majority power group as the final results of the local government elections draw near.
Newcastle may not be the only council to lose its Labor majority, with the race for the final seat in Lake Macquarie's west ward on a knife-edge.
Labor looks like it will retain six positions on Lake Macquarie council, including the mayoralty and one seat in west ward.
But the party's second west ward candidate, incumbent councillor David Belcher is behind independent challenger Anthony Swinsburg for the final spot.
The party is also one position off a majority in Port Stephens, where the final seat in east ward is too close to call before preference distribution.
Preferences will be distributed next week before results are declared.
While Labor's second candidate Roz Armstrong is trailing independent Mark Watson, the Greens encouraged voters to preference Labor second, which could put Ms Armstrong ahead.
The rest of Port Stephens council appears to made up of five Labor councillors including the mayor, three Independents and a Liberal.
The makeup of Cessnock council is also taking shape, with an independent candidate likely to hold the balance of power.
Ward B independent candidate Sarah Pascoe is looking like she will be elected alongside six Labor representatives and six candidates who ran in an independent group, including the elected mayor.
Ms Pascoe said she was excited to take on the role, but acknowledged it was a difficult decision to be in.
"I knew running as an independent and just being myself was going to throw a bit of a spanner in the works," she said.
"The way I looked at the election was that I'm going to make the decision that's best for the community, not what a group of people tell me is the best idea.
"Either way, it's going to look like I'm taking sides, but I'm going to weigh up all sides of an argument.
"As long as their ideas are sound and it's good for the community I'm willing to look with an open mind."
Maitland is the only Hunter council that appears to have a clear majority at this stage. Mayor Philip Penfold's group is expected to pick up seven of Maitland's 13 seats.
Things are close in the Central Coast race, where 15 councillors will be elected across five wards. However this will be cut to nine at the 2028 election, after more than 61 per cent of people voted to reduce the number of councillors and wards in a referendum on election day.
Labor looks likely to pick up a spot in each Central Coast ward, while the Liberals are expected to have four councillors, and two Independent councillors are in good positions, with four other seats undecided.
