Dobell was originally a fairly safe seat for the Australian Labor Party but successive redistributions reduced the Labor margin and the seat was ultimately won by the Liberal Party in the 2001 election. The Liberals consolidated their hold on the seat at the 2004 election; however Labor regained the seat at the 2007 election when Craig Thomson easily defeated Ken Ticehurst. Dobell is a bellwether electorate. With the exception of the 1990 election and the 1996 election, Dobell has voted for the party with the highest national two party preferred vote at every federal election since its creation in 1984.