A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly electorate of Clarence on May 25, 1996 following the resignation of sitting member, Ian Causley, to contest federal seat of Page at the 1996 election.
On the same day, by-elections were held in the seats of Orange, Pittwater, Southern Highlands and Strathfield.
All seats were retained by the Liberal-National Parties, with the exception of Clarence, that was won the Labor Party with a swing on a two-party preferred basis of 13.96%.
| Clarence state by-election, 1996[1] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labor | Harry Woods | 18,030 | 51.29 | +17.11 | |
| National | Geoff Knight | 14,662 | 41.71 | -11.32 | |
| Democrats | Peter Wrightson | 1,415 | 4.02 | +1.00 | |
| Greens | Christina Sharman | 1,049 | 2.98 | -0.57 | |
| Informal votes | 451 | 1.27 | -1.78 | ||
| Turnout | 35,607 | 89.20 | -5.18 | ||
| Two-candidate preferred result | |||||
| Labor | Harry Woods | 19,280 | 55.67 | +13.96 | |
| National | Geoff Knight | 15,352 | 44.33 | -13.96 | |
| Labor gain from National | Swing | +13.96 | |||
|
||||||||