As of Sunday afternoon, Labor had received 14.60 per cent of the primary vote, down by more than nine percentage points or 5300 votes compared to the September byelection.

"Wagga voters took 60 years to change their mind at the byelection and they weren't going to change it again in six months," Mr Hayes said.

"The (election night) showed that they wanted to give the independent experiment a go and not for just six months." 

The last time Labor polled worse than on Saturday was in 2011 when the party's candidate Glenn Elliott-Rudder received 10.1 per cent of the vote.

That race included long-standing Liberal MP Daryl Maguire on 53 per cent and Dr McGirr on 30 per cent of the primary vote.

"I think the byelection and the general election are very different things," Mr Hayes said.

"People made their decision in September last year and the election was just reinforcing that."

Mr Hayes said he was proud of his campaign for having raised the issues of spending on hospitals, schools and TAFE and forcing the government to offer its own similar policies.

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