"They've both been very active, we've certainly seen a lot of them; what I'm hoping is either or both will make commitments to duplication of the Barton Highway," she said.

Seven Coalition frontbenchers have visited the seat so far in the campaign, including Julie Bishop, Sussan Ley, Greg Hunt, Michael Keenan, Kelly O'Dwyer, Simon Birmingham and Fiona Nash. Malcolm Turnbull also took a day out of his campaign to join Mr Hendy and commit funds to the Port of Eden.

Mr Kelly's campaign has been boosted by a Unions ACT drive and a strong social media presence with more than 40,000 Facebook "likes" and 11,000-plus Twitter followers. Mr Hendy has more than 2600 Facebook likes and no Twitter account.

The council is asking for a $200 million initial contribution. Mr Kelly told The Australian Financial Review it was a "critical final piece of the puzzle" and he was pressing senior Labor leaders on funding. "We'll be having more conversations with the leadership team on what might be able to be done, so it's a watch-this-space-type-of-thing," he said.

The Coalition is also concerned about damage from a dirt campaign they say is run by a handful of people, one of whom they believe leaked an email suggesting Liberal Party members did not want to support Mr Hendy's campaign.

"There are about four people who try to get their name in lights," the source said, adding that the Canberra Liberals are more concerned about losing their own volunteers to Mr Hendy's "more sexy" bellwether seat campaign across the border on election day.

Mr Kelly said the email was first leaked to him before it appeared in the media, but he said he did not pass it on.