^{23 JUNE 2022}

ON the face of it, rather little campaigning occurred for the seat of Nicholls yesterday -- but when you look beyond the surface, there's a lot more to be seen than you might expect.

While no Nicholls candidate was seen on the campaign trail, a letter from CPA candidate Boyrauty was sent to many residents of the electorate, in which the candidate claims that Nicholls is being "misused and mistreated by the CLP", and that the winter energy crisis effecting the eastern states has been "caused by government incompetence".

However, Gippsland-based Senator model-putrid took particular offence to one of the claims included in the letter, specifically her being described as a "fake Gippslandian" who "represents a completely different state". In a statement released last night, model-putrid called for an immediate correction to be issued "clarifying that the Senator resides in Rosedale and is not lying or decieving residents about her residency", and stated she may consider legal action "due to the damage she believes has been done to her reputation as a result of these lies".

Defiant, CPA leader 12MaxWild urged model-putrid on social media to sue and "fail miserably again", and labelled the Senator a "fake Tasmanian, a fake Gippslander and a fake Australian". When reached for comment by Pitchfork News, model-putrid told us she had decided not to take legal action over the claims, explaining "I believe these comments were a lie and that the CPA knew that, but I know Gippsland voters can see through their petty bully boy attack politics. I won't be giving these false claims any more time or attention."

Yesterday also saw model-putrid take the phrase "campaign trail" to a literal sense, cycling along the East Gippsland Rail Trail on what she called a "cyclestop tour", promoting the newly announced Socialist Party pledge to rebuild the Bairnsdale to Orbost railway line. In a press conference in Bairnsdale, she promised the line would "supercharge jobs in the local area", and estimated that constructing the line may cost $440 million.

The continued absence of model-frod in campaigning has been noted by some electoral analysts, with psephologist Michael Blorbus suggesting he may struggle to retain the seat if this continues. "As the days go on, it becomes harder and harder to win voters. Even if model-frod has a blockbuster couple of days prepared, it'll be hard to compete with the momentum that the CPA candidate has now. The race in Nicholls may prove an interesting one on election night."

Story by Alison Brooks.