Dubbo has been generally conservative leaning throughout its history, with the Country/National and parties holding it for most of its lifetime. The conservative bent grew even stronger during the 1980s and 1990s, and the seat was widely seen as National Party heartland. This changed in 1999, when Dubbo became one of a number of key National Party seats to fall to rural independents, with the narrow victory of Tony McGrane. He was returned with a much larger majority at the 2003 election, and when he died in 2004, was replaced by another independent, Dawn Fardell, who won the resulting by-election. Fardell was re-elected in 2007 election; only to be comprehensively defeated by the Nationals Troy Grant at the 2011 general election.