A Braddon candidate declared bankrupt a decade ago says he won't pull out from this weekend's by-election even though he's likely to be ineligible to sit in parliament.
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Australian People's Party candidate Bruno Strangio was declared bankrupt in 2008 - undischarged bankrupts are ineligible to sit in parliament.
He was one of 13 candidates across five by-elections who refused to sign optional forms setting out how they are eligible to enter parliament if they win.
But Mr Strangio told AAP he'd deal with any eligibility issues in the very unlikely event he won.
"Why would anyone want to pull out of the running of the race?," he said on Wednesday.
"Winning is going to be hard but why would anybody want to resign, or withdraw, because of an allegation."
He compared his situation to the drawn-out citizenship saga that engulfed several MPs, including Labor's Justine Keay who is attempting to win back Braddon.
"The rest were able to sit there while they knew 100 per cent they weren't eligible to sit," Mr Strangio said.
Braddon is on a knife-edge between the Liberals' Brett Whiteley and Ms Keay.
The northwest Tasmanian seat could be decided on the flow of preferences from controversial independent Craig Garland and the Greens to Labor.
Internal Liberal polling of 500 voters has Mr Whiteley in front for the first time, by 51-to-49 per cent after rounding.
But a separate Labor poll has Ms Keay ahead 47-to-37 per cent.
Mr Strangio will preference Labor and the Liberals last, saying they've "done nothing" for the people.
Mr Whiteley, meanwhile, rejected talk of pork-barrelling.
Figures published in the Australian Financial Review show the Liberal Party has pledged $122 million in Braddon compared to $21 million in South Australia's Mayo.
A major promise is $60 million for Bass Highway upgrades, as well as $10 million towards a riverside development in Devonport.
"They're the pieces of infrastructure needed to continue to help businesses grow their business," Mr Whiteley said.
"We have made these commitments, Malcolm Turnbull is a man of his word, I am a man of my word."
Ms Keay has promised more than $183 million from opposition, campaigning heavily on bettering the state's health system and reducing waiting times in hospitals.
Australian Associated Press
