RESIGNING from council to officially launch her state election campaign, Cairns Labor candidate Kirsten Lesina conceded she would have to work hard to win the seat that has been a Labor stronghold for more than a century.

With polls showing the LNP is set to trounce Labor in the election, the former Division 4 Cairns Regional councillor faces huge pressure to win the seat.

Labor holds Cairns with a margin of 4.2 per cent.

"No doubt it’s going to be tough and I’m in for the fight of my life," Ms Lesina said.

Long-time Labor MP Desley Boyle held Cairns in the 2009 election scoring 45.8 per cent of the vote compared with LNP candidate Joel Harrop’s 39.8 per cent.

Ms Boyle is not standing for re-election this year.

Ms Lesina (pictured) is running against former The Cairns Post journalist and LNP candidate Gavin King, Katter’s Australian Party candidate and police officer Darren Hunt and John Piva of the North Queensland Party.

The 25-year-old, who set a record as the youngest councillor elected in the Cairns region, said her four years of local government experience sets her apart from her competitors.

"It’s a great training ground because you do have that experience of managing a large budget," said Ms Lesina, who won a seat on the council in the same year she graduated from law school at James Cook University.

"I’ve had four years of experience on council managing a $330 million business."

The fourth-generation Cairns resident will focus her campaign on health care, job creation and education.

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