JOHOR BAHRU: The Johor state goes into battle today after 239 candidates, the oldest being 71 years old, while the youngest at 26, contesting for the 15th state polls.
The gender distribution is tipped heavily towards male candidates with 202 men and 37 women contesting for the seats.
The state cracks the record with a 7-cornered fight at 2 seats.
Followed by:
*6-cornered fight - 4 seats
*5-cornered fights - 8 seats
*4-cornered fights - 35 seats
* 3 cornered fights - 7 seats
Election Commission (EC) further added there are no straight fights.
Age of candidates
The majority of candidates range between 40 to 49 years old (72 candidates).
Others are:
*18-29 (8 candidates)
*30 -39 (52 candidates)
*50-59 (64 candidates)
* Above 60 (43 candidates).
Seats
Barisan Nasional and Perikatan Nasional will be going head-on at all the 56 state seats while Pakatan Harapan will contest at 30 seats.
Others are:
*Pejuang - 42 seats,
*PKR -20 seats
*Independent candidates -16 seats
*Muda -7 seats
*Warisan - 6 seats
*Parti Bangsa Malaysia - 4 seats
* Putra - 1 seat
* Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) - 1 seat.
Key candidates:
*Benut - BN's Hasni Mohammad (incumbent)
*Simpang Jeram - Amanah deputy president Salahuddin Ayub
*Perling - Johor DAP chief Liew Chin Tong
*Machap - Johor Pejuang chief Shahruddin Md Salleh
*Rengit -Umno supreme council member Mohd Puad Zarkashi
*Yong Peng - MCA national organising secretary Ling Tian Soon
*Tebrau - Parti Bangsa Malaysia's Steven Choong
*Layang-Layang - PKR's Mazlee Malik
*Puteri Wangsa - Muda's Amira Aisya
*Tenang - Muda's Lim Wei Jiet
*Kota Iskandar - Amanah's Dzulkefly Ahmad
BN is said to be going into Johor polls as the favourites after a victory at Melaka polls. If BN wins the majority, it will likely ditch PN for GE15 which is speculated to be held this year.
Meanwhile, the opposition is still suffering from voters' trust after GE14 unfulfilled manifesto and internal fighting. New parties - Pejuang, Muda, Warisan and PBM are likely to split voters further for the opposition.
As election campaigning ends at midnight of March 11, opposition parties are expected to battle tooth and nail to see Umno lose its dominance at its birthplace in Johor.
Stay tuned for more updates as Sinar Daily brings you the latest on the polls.