The surprise at the result was evident online in the aftermath of Saturday’s vote, along with some skepticism, with Craig Golding using the word “scapegoat”.

“They know they won’t get up so need to point the blame at someone,” he said.

John Oxman said he believed The Nationals would put their efforts behind Dubbo’s Troy Grant and Bathurst’s Paul Toole.

“I think they have thrown in the towel not wanting to waste resources on a high-profile candidate that can't win,” he said. 

However, Ms Quinn also had support, with Kate Willoughby saying she would do just fine.

“She is one of the smartest people I have met and comes from an area that farms the land,” she said. 

The candidate said she was not paying attention to the comments and looked forward to campaigning.

“I’m here to fight for Orange, Parkes, Forbes and the rest of the region – the comments don’t bother me, I’m ignoring them because they’re not important,” she said.

“They’re just online trolls at the end of the day.”