The seat of Hobart, formerly known as Wellington, had been held by Doug Parkinson for the Labor Party since 1994; his retirement left Derwent MLC Craig Farrell as the only remaining Labor MLC.

As his replacement Labor preselected Dean Winter, a party researcher and staffer for federal MP Julie Collins.

His main competition was Rob Valentine, Lord Mayor of Hobart from 1999 to 2011, who was running as an independent candidate.

[1] The seat of Western Tiers, renamed from Rowallan in 2006, had been held since 2001 by independent Greg Hall.

His only opponent for re-election was another independent candidate, John Hawkins, an antiques dealer and environmental campaigner.