South Australian independent senator Nick Xenophon has been revealed as the man behind two well-connected political candidates in Port Pirie deciding to run an “above the line” Senate ticket.

Dianah Mieglich and John Rohde are one and two on the Port Pirie-based “Partnership with Purpose” ticket, aimed at securing a sizeable regional vote.

Billed as independents, they are not new to politics.

Rohde, the deputy mayor of Port Pirie, has been a Labor candidate at the last four state polls in the seat of Frome and until recently held executive positions within the party.

Mieglich is the electoral assistant to current State MP for Frome, independent Geoff Brock.

“I wanted to run as an independent, but when I asked Nick Xenophon for some advice, he told me to find a running mate and be grouped above the line,” Dianah Mieglich told InDaily.

“So I asked John if he would be interested in being my running mate so we could be a group, even though it meant leaving the Labor Party. He resigned from the ALP in a heartbeat.”

Rohde told local TV station GTS he had become disillusioned with party politics.

“Party politics is not the way forward; it’s very important to listen to the needs of South Australians,” he said.

InDaily asked Mieglich if there would be a preference swap with Nick Xenophon.

“Nick’s very keen to talk about that and he’ll be coming up here soon to talk about that,” she said.

“I’m also getting calls from some of the minor parties.”

While Mieglich is leaving her job at Geoff Brock’s electorate office, her connection with him is likely to resume should she fail in the Senate bid, with the prospect of a seat in state parliament also on the cards.

“Geoff and I have a succession plan.

“He wants to get re-elected in 2014, but beyond that, or if something goes wrong, I’ll put my hand up and he has told me he supports that.”

Mieglich and Rohde are about to hit the campaign road and sell their message of better food and water security for the state and tax relief for emergency services volunteers.

They intend to cover as much of the State as possible, while also acknowledging the metro area is where the votes are.

“Our main pitch is to regional voters who have been neglected by the major parties, but we’ll be looking for city votes as well,” Mieglich said.

“Representation for regional people needs to be more valued and I really don’t think the political parties are doing that and I think the timing is right for those who really care about regional South Australia to get in there and really make a difference.”

With the connection to Brock and Rohde’s high local government profile, analysts expect the pairing to score well in their home base.

Brock polled almost 40 per cent of the 22,000 votes in Frome at the last State election, while Rohde accounted for around 20 per cent.

It’s not the first time Xenophon has dipped his toe into Port Pirie’s political plays.

He turned the 2009 Frome by-election on its head when he gave a last minute endorsement to Brock.

Brock ran third on primaries, but leap-frogged Labor into second spot by just a handful of votes with Labor’s preferences then catapulting him past the Liberal candidate.

He has since held the seat comfortably.