It is fair to say the good town of Queanbeyan was not overwhelmed by grateful citizens throwing their hats in the air at the possibility of a new neighbour and a new senator.
"Is he a comedian or a singer?" Carol Hogan asked as she walked through the Riverside Plaza towards Coles.
She was one of a string of "never-heard-of-hims" on Thursday afternoon, shortly after Zed Seselja's video shot nearby surfaced on YouTube.
"I have heard of him," Kyle Abell said as he pushed his child around the playground roundabout.
"But not much," he added.
To be fair to the fugitive from Canberra, some Queanbeyans had heard of him and knew quite a lot about his background.
But that didn't necessarily do the former ACT senator a mountain of good. "Zed is on the far right so I'm not a fan," Dave O'Neill said.
"I moved from Canberra to Queanbeyan and now he's following me. I just don't like his politics. I don't think he did that much for the ACT."
Mr O'Neill wasn't surprised former prime minister and current luminary of the right, Tony Abbott, had endorsed Mr Seselja in the promo video. Mr O'Neill took against Mr Seselja because of what he saw as the brutal way he replaced the previous ACT senator, Gary Humphries, who was a member of the Senate from 2003 to 2013 (and also chief minister of the ACT from 2000 to 2001).
Mr Humphries himself wouldn't comment on Mr Seselja's candidacy in NSW when The Canberra Times asked him about it on Thursday.
But when there was talk of Mr Seselja wanting to return to the Senate for the ACT, Mr Humphries said it would be a "profoundly foolish thing" as he has a "unique ability to lose, not win hearts and minds".
Talking to voters in Queanbeyan on Thursday afternoon, it was clear Mr Seselja is a deeply divisive politician.
He has his detractors but he has his fans, too. "He always struck me as being very balanced in his views," Mary, a retired lab technician, said.
"We get too many politicians who come across as a bit extreme, but he wasn't," the 78-year-old retiree said.
"I think I would vote for him. He came over as sincere and honest."
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Liberal insiders contacted by The Canberra Times decided to keep their heads down (though, one did say: "We don't really need him in any of these places.")
Mr Seselja is being seen in those circles as the candidate of the right. Insiders say there are at least four other candidates and perhaps as many as 10, with a decision expected towards the end of the month.
Dave Sharma, who lost his House of Representatives seat in 2022 is being mentioned in Liberal circles, as is Andrew Constance.
Meanwhile, people from the other parties look on in wonder.
The Nationals' Nichole Overall, who was in the NSW Legislative Assembly for Monaro until last year, welcomed Mr Seselja's decision to migrate from the ACT.
"We are very welcoming people on this side of the border and we are always happy to welcome new residents and future voters," she said.
Steve Evans
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
