Eleven out of 13 Labor candidates for next month's Newcastle local government election are women.
Lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes will face five rivals for her crown after nominations closed on Wednesday for the December 4 vote.
She heads up a team of Labor candidates across the four wards which includes two men, deputy lord mayor Declan Clausen in ward one and Phillip Johnson in ward two.
The gender mix is a far cry from the last election in 2017, when seven of the Labor candidates were men.
Two of the Labor men elected to ward four in that election will not be back to defend their seats. Jason Dunn will not recontest his position and fellow incumbent Matt Byrne resigned from the Labor ticket in August over revelations he was under an apprehended violence order.
In their place is an all-female crew of Deahnna Richardson, a 31-year-old indigenous mother of two from Wallsend, Elizabeth Morris and Ann Crump.
Cr Nelmes heads up another all-female ticket in ward three which includes Cr Peta Winney-Baartz, Margaret Wood and Erica James. Labor has four starters because Cr Nelmes will vacate the ward position if she wins the mayoral vote.
Cr Clausen has moved from ward three to ward one, where he has displaced serving councillor Emma White at the top of the Labor ticket. Rachel Smoothy is Labor's No.3 in the ward.
Labor incumbent Carol Duncan will contest ward two with Mr Johnson and Jenna Schofield.
Incumbent councillors John Church (Newcastle Independents) and John Mackenzie (Greens) are confirmed starters for the mayoral vote, as is Liberal pick Jenny Barrie.
Two other candidates who contested the 2017 mayoral vote, the Socialist Alliance's Stephen O'Brien and independent Rod Holding, will back up on December 4.
Cr Allan Robinson will contest ward four as an ungrouped independent after being dumped from the Newcastle Independents alliance following a string of controversies.
Labor is attempting to cling to its absolute majority in the council chamber, where it holds seven of the 13 seats and the lord mayor's casting vote in the event of deadlocks.
The Newcastle council election candidates are grouped by threes in each of the city's four wards along party lines or in alliances of independents. They can also stand as ungrouped individuals.
Cr Church and Cr Mackenzie will contest ward one, as will the Liberals' Blake Keating in what could be a tight four-way contest for three available spots.
The Newcastle Independents will field Merewether local PJ Fallon in ward two, former detective David Wild in ward three and Cr Kath Elliott, now serving a six-week suspension for leaking code-of-conduct investigations into herself, in ward four.
The Liberals hope to bounce back from a dismal showing in 2017, when they secured ony one councillor, Brad Luke, who is not contesting this vote.
Ms Barrie will contest ward two, Katrina Wark will run in ward three and Callum Pull will lead the Liberal ticket in ward four.
The Greens will also field Charlotte McCabe in ward two, Sinead Francis-Coan in ward three and Thomas Levick in ward four.
Lambton community newspaper operator Mark Brooker leads a ticket of independents in ward three.
The draw to decide the order of names on the lord mayoral ballot paper and the order of groups in each ward will be held on Thursday morning.
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