Greens candidate John Mackenzie says the party's showing in Newcastle on Saturday was "not what we were hoping for".
The Newcastle councillor had 18.4 per cent of the primary vote by close of counting on Saturday night and was failing narrowly to qualify for the two-party-preferred count against Labor's Tim Crakanthorp.
Upper house Greens MP Abigail Boyd said in Newcastle last month that the party believed it could prise the seat from Labor's grip in four years' time.
But that looked a forlorn hope on Saturday as the votes rolled in.
The Greens won shock victories in three Brisbane seats at last year's federal election after steadily building voter support over several election cycles.
Dr Mackenzie told the Newcastle Herald on Friday that he was hoping to improve on the party's Newcastle showing at the 2022 federal election, when fellow councillor Charlotte McCabe won 20 per cent of first preferences.
The 18 per cent primary vote is the Greens' best in a state general election in Newcastle but short of party expectations.
"We've got a positive swing in every single booth right across Newcastle, but it wasn't what we were hoping for," Dr Mackenzie said on Sunday.
"What we were really hoping for was to get that two-party-preferred, and for a while there we were close, and maybe on preferences, depending on how the Cannabis party preferences flow, we might come closer, but it's a very mixed feeling."
He said the Greens' performance tended to suffer slightly when there was a change of government, though this was not the case in last year's federal poll.
"It's like we get skipped over. People are saying, 'We're changing the government,' and that's been a statewide trend for the Greens.
"It's not gone backwards, but it's not gone forewards like it did in the federal election."
The Greens retained the seats of Ballina and Newtown and were on track to hold Balmain.
