Scott Yung, the Liberal candidate for Kogarah doesn't believe that it was Labor leader Michael Daley's comments about young Sydneysiders' jobs being replaced by "young people from typically Asia with PhDs" that swung voters his way.
It was a turning point in the campaign when the video surfaced of Michael Daley's comments surfaced but Scott Yung doesn't think it had the influence others say it did.
"Basically, Daley's comments weren't as much of a worry as people made out," said Mr Yung, 26, who hopes eventually to be Australia's youngest MP of Chinese background.
"When you look as seats of Ryde and Strathfield there's a big Asian Chinese background and they had a swing against the Liberal party," he said.
"I credit our team on the ground for our good result. We were manning four train stations every morning and three in the evenings.
"I door-knocked all the electorate one-and-a-half times.
"Our team was out in the electorate for six weekends with 86 volunteers each time."
Mr Yung said that many young people are disenchanted with politics and it was them he tried to reach.
"We were also able to start a movement beyond the standard election strategy. It was about tapping into people's hopes, not just from an electorate point of views but a generation point of view, particularly young people who are disenchanted with politics.
"I wanted to say to them that we can have a voice in our political system. Don't lose hope."
Mr Yung is also full of praise for his opponent, Chris Minns.
"Chris Minns is an absolute gentleman. He is a man of integrity. If he does win this seat he has all the integrity to go a long way to be a good Labor leader," he said.
Chris Minns was able to return the compliment when asked about Scott's campaign on Channel 7 on election night.
"I'd love to say that Scott Yung ran a negative campaign and he's a dirty campaigner but it's not true," Mr Minns said
"He ran a positive campaign and pumped his own candidacy and ran his idea and his vision for the future of the community. So I can't put the mocker on him."
But he didn't echo Scott Yung's thoughts on Michael Daley's comments.
"In relation to the comments they weren't helpful there's no question about it.
"They made it extremely tough in the seat over the past week. We could feel it immediately on pre-poll
"We knew it was going to be extremely difficult. That's the reality we've got at the moment.
"The message from Labor and the message from me certainly is that we love the Australian Chinese community in Kogarah, in particular in Hurstville, they've added so much to the St George community
"It looks like we've got a big job to convince that community in Sydney that we're fair dinkum.''
While the result is close as voting continues, Mr Yung is not getting his hopes up.
As of Monday afternoon, on a first preference basis, the Liberals were slightly ahead with 17,545 votes compared with Labor's 17,532 with the outcome to be determined by preferences. Counting is expected to continue until the end of the week.
"I'm hopeful but it is unlikely. I'm proud of the fact that (as of midday Monday) I was ahead on the primaries which from one perspective is really humbling as it reflects the large faith that the community places in our movement."
Mr Yung said he will return to running his early education business at Hurstville which was started by his parents.
He said he will still be seen around Hurstville where he will keep in contact with voters.
"I'm not going anywhere in terms of politics," he said.
"It was my first campaign and it wasn't the last."
