A key factional player who supported former Victorian Labor minister Jane Garrett in her losing bid for a safe upper house seat says the party can't afford to lose her.
The former emergency services minister and current member for Brunswick lost on Wednesday night to Australian Services Union branch secretary Ingrid Stitt in a preselection contest for a Western Metropolitan Region seat.
Upper house Labor MP Adem Somyurek, who became a key factional player when he was sacked over bullying allegations he denies, said Wednesday night's vote was "really bad".
"Last night was an indulgence that the Labor Party can ill-afford," Mr Somyurek told reporters at parliament.
"The Labor Party can't afford to lose people like Jane Garrett, they come along once in a generation and I don't know what the party's thinking, but she'll be back."
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Another upper house Labor MP, Mark Gepp, said Ms Garrett's loss was a "great shame".
"I don't know if she was bullied out of the parliament, but it was a hit last night," Mr Gepp told reporters.
Ms Garrett announced in September she would leave her marginal seat of Brunswick at the 2018 state election.
She was seeking to replace outgoing upper house MP Khalil Eideh, whose office is under investigation over allegations Labor MPs used printing entitlements to pay for branch stacking.
But other Labor MPs say her loss was a risk everyone faces at preselection.
"It was a contested ballot, as we saw across a number is seats last night, nothing more than that," Police Minister Lisa Neville said.
Ms Neville criticised the attempt to move from a marginal to a safe seat, saying "I believe very strongly that people have a loyalty to their own seats."
Ms Garrett's attempt came after a difficult 2016, in which she quit cabinet rather than sign a controversial firefighters' union pay deal backed by Premier Daniel Andrews, she was physically attacked on the street and was also diagnosed with breast cancer.
