HE is a former powerlifting champion and gym owner but the marathon election campaign has tested the strength of popular Labor backbencher Tony Zappia.
Mr Zappia, 64, formerly mayor of Salisbury for a decade, last night secured a fourth term in the north-eastern suburban seat of Makin after increasing his margin to almost 10 per cent. 
The father-of-three, who has won 10 national powerlifting championships and continues to mentor young athletes, will continue as the local MP, his job now for almost a decade. With almost 60 per cent of votes counted last night, Mr Zappia had won almost 59.6 per cent of the two party preferred, increasing his margin by almost 5 per cent.
The win, over Liberal candidate and Salisbury Councillor Graham Reynolds, 46, makes Makin one of Labor's safest.
Mr Zappia, of Pooraka, in Adelaide's north, watched the count unfold with family - including wife Vicki, adult children aged between 29 and 35 and five grandchildren - friends and exhausted campaign volunteers at the Modbury Bowling Club.
Mr Zappia has a strong personal local following and last night expressed relief the "tough" two-month campaign was over and he was pleased to increase his vote.
Asked how his team coped, he told the Sunday Mail: "I think, like myself, they are relieved that the eight-week campaign is over, that's quite evident. Obviously they are quite happy for me to have held the seat." He said Labor had "set the agenda" throughout and voters had resonated with his strong, local campaign.
"I've lived in this electorate all my life and I'm known in the electorate," he said. "I am happy to be judged on my performance." He had admitted the campaign had posed challenges. "This has been the longest campaign I've ever been involved in and it's certainly been a very tiring campaign," he said.
Liberal candidate Mr Reynolds admitted he fought an uphill battle. An aerospace engineer of Salisbury East, Mr Reynolds has spent the past three decades working at the Edinburgh RAAF base but resigned from the air force on Anzac Day.
Mr Zappia first ran for the marginal seat in 2004. Despite achieving a swing of 2.7 per cent, he failed to beat Liberal Trish Draper. He won at the 2007 election with an 8.6 per cent swing and increased his margin again in 2010.
In 2013, the Coalition recorded a 6.9 per cent swing in the seat, which covers Mawson Lakes, Golden Grove, Modbury and Tea Tree Gully.
MAKIN ZAPPIA (ALP) REYNOLDS (LIB) BOSSIE (NXT)LABOR HOLD