Fiona Phillips lost to Ann Sudmalis by 1503 votes in the race for Gilmore at the last federal election.
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This election, things are panning out differently for the Labor candidate.
A month out, Labor is tipped to comfortably win the knife-edge seat according to Sportsbet - with a dollar's bet paying $1.14 and the same bet on Warren Mundine and Katrina Hodgkinson paying $5 and $12 respectively.
Ms Phillips officially launched her campaign on Tuesday in Pyree, joined by senior ALP members including deputy leader Tanya Plibersek, senator Kristina Keneally, Member for Whitlam Stephen Jones and Member for Wollongong Sharon Bird.
They arrived in a bright, red bus, triumphant about the Labor Party's "stability and unity".
There were no new funding commitments to announce at the launch, but had plenty to say about the political climate in Gilmore.
They criticised Prime Minister Scott Morrison's captain call in Gilmore, which left Liberals reeling, and Grant Schultz to run his own race.
"They [Liberal Party] sky-hooked a guy in [Warren Mundine] who's just discovering where the local area is," Mr Jones said.
"The former Liberal Party MP is so disappointed with her own party that she's out there, campaigning for a National Party candidate, and the National Party is so disappointed with the PM's pick that they're out there running their own candidate.
"It is just a very sure signal the dysfunction in Canberra will play itself out here in the local electorate, unless we do everything between now and May 18 to make sure Fiona Phillips is the next MP for Gilmore."
At the launch, deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek highlighted the fact Ms Phillips is a homegrown candidate.
"The terrible thing I share with Warren [Mundine], is that I love visiting the area," she said.
"A fly-in fly-out member is not what Gilmore needs.
"Fiona hasn't stopped [fighting for Gilmore] since the very first day of her very first campaign."
She deployed Labor's rhetoric - the election is a choice between better hospitals and schools or bigger tax cuts for the top end on town.
Meanwhile, the Liberals and Nationals have been hosting separate veterans forums in Gilmore this week.
Nationals Candidate Katrina Hodgkinson will bring Minister for Veterans Affairs and Defence Personnel Darren Chester to HMAS Albatross on Wednesday.
He will also take part in a community forum at Ms Hodgkinson's Nowra campaign office at 1pm.
Liberal Candidate for Gilmore welcomed former army general Jim Molan to the Shoalhaven Ex-Serviceman's Club for a veterans' forum on Tuesday.
