[1] The by-election was triggered when Dr Richard Lim, the Country Liberal Party member for Greatorex, resigned from politics on 9 July 2007.

[3] Lim stated that he was resigning in order to care for his ailing wife and parents, and was considering returning to his medical practice.

[6][7] The Labor Party preselected Jo Nixon, an audiologist and the organiser of the annual Alice Springs Beanie Festival as their candidate.

However, she made a surprise announcement on the last day of nominations, 16 July, that she would instead run as a candidate of the Greens, who had not previously been expected to contest the by-election.

[18] The CLP repeatedly focused on law and order issues during the campaign, criticising crime rates and expressing support for the federal government's intervention in the region, including the ban on public consumption of alcohol in the town.

[19] Labor also focused its campaign on law and order issues, with Nixon's primary promise being the construction of a remote "boot camp" for young offenders in Central Australia, which subsequently received support from the territory government.