With counting still underway, the votes have so far been shared between a mix of old and new candidates.
Bilal El-Hayek, who is set to return to the Bankstown Ward, along with his Labor counterpart Khal Asfour and Liberal George Zakhia, said it was a brilliant result for him and the party.
“We worked our guts for the last four years, we’ve delivered for the community a lot of projects and the community has seen that,” he said.
“We stood up through the lockdown, and against discrimination … what was the Sydney divide, and our residents remembered.
“It makes me so proud.”
Mr Zakhia, who suffered a swing against him, said it was a very tough campaign with the Labor candidates getting lots of television exposure.
“We worked hard and considering all the media that Bilal and Khal did leading up to the election, we’ve done well.”
Former Canterbury Councillor, Labor’s Karl Saleh is also set to return.
“The result is a very strong victory for our team,” he said.
“I thank the community for having the confidence in me to continue to be their voice. I am extremely honoured and humbled to be back.”
Others leading the count in their ward include: Bass Hill – Charlie Ishac (Liberal), Rachelle Harika (Labor) and Christopher Cahill (Labor); Canterbury – Clare Raffan (Labor); Revesby – David Walsh (Labor) and Charbel Abouraad (Liberal); and Roselands – Sazeda Akter (Liberal), Karl Saleh (Labor) and Bhadra Waiba (Labor).
The NSW Electoral Commission will not begin declaring any candidates elected until December 20.
