Newcastle is the only original Federal seat in the country that has never been held by the Liberal Party, and has had only five MPs in the 112 years since Federation, all Labor.
For decades the city's been considered rock-solid ALP territory.
The party's hold has been so dominant that the result is usually seen as a formality, with the Liberal Party sometimes having trouble even finding a candidate to run.
But at the last State election, Tim Owens claimed Newcastle for the Liberals for the first time.
Now the party's Federal candidate, Jaimie Abbott, is hoping to follow his example and make history as the city's first Liberal member in the nation's parliament.
She told 1233 ABC Newcastle's Jill Emberson it's a daunting task.
"I'm certainly aware that this is a huge challenge and it's actually the only original seat in the entire country that's never been held by a Liberal," she says.
"Tim Owens made history at the last State election."
Even with polls on a knife edge, giving the Opposition a slight lead, she has her work cut out for her.
ABC election analyst, Antony Green, believes it's unlikely seats with a big margin, such as Newcastle, will change hands.
It's still considered a very safe Labor seat, with a margin of 12.5%.
Labor candidate Sharon Claydon is hoping to take over from retiring MP Sharon Grierson, who's been local member since 2001.
But she's taking nothing for granted.
"I would never take the city of Newcastle for granted at any point in time, and I would suggest that any candidate who thought this was a gift in any way, shape or form to any party would be very wrong-headed," she says.
Ms Claydon says Labor has delivered more than $2.5billion worth of investments to the city since it was elected.
"We have increased funding to the University of Newcastle by 64% in the very short period from 2007," she says.
Jaimie Abbott is aware she has a battle on her hands to change the political history of the city.
"I have been ready for 18 months, I'm ready to go," she says.
"And people have been telling me for months now that they wanted an election, and now is their chance."
Asked what the top three election issues are for the city, both women name economic goals as their top priority.
"It's all about getting a stronger more diverse economy, with lower taxes, and ease the pressure on families here in Newcastle," Ms Abbott says.
Sharon Claydon also calls for "increased diversification" of the local economy.
But that's where the similarities end.
As her number-two priority, "I want to be able to help fight crime," Jaimie Abbott says.
She says when door-knocking she's constantly being told that people don't feel safe in their own homes.
"So we've got $50million for CCTV and crime prevention programs," she says.
"And finally I want to help small businesses here in Newcastle, because small businesses actually employ half of Newcastle's workforce."
The Labor candidate says crime is a State responsibility, and education is her next priority.
"Better resources for our local schools, and high-speed optic-fibre broadband going out to every house and every business," she says.
As for the first big election issue that's come up for the Hunter, the surprise announcement of funding for a detention centre at Singleton, the candidates upsurprisingly have very divergent views.
"Rather than building a place to house asylum seekers , I think we need to focus on the issue of stopping the boats," Jaimie Abbott says.
"We've got a national emergency on our borders, with almost 50,000 illegal arrivals by boat now, and it's over $10billion in additional costs to the budget.
"And tragically, over a thousand lives lost at sea."
Confirming the announcement of the detention centre was a surprise, Sharon Claydon says "I wasn't aware of it".
She says the Singleton community previously helped house around 500 refugees from Kosovo.
"I was really incredibly proud of the way in which Newcastle and the Hunter Region did that so successfully," she says.
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