2019 Auckland mayoral election

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2019 Auckland mayoral election
← 2016 12 October 2019 2022 →
Registered1,065,383
Turnout367,796 (34.5%)
 
Candidate Phil Goff John Tamihere
Party Independent
(Labour endorsed)
Independent politician
Popular vote 180,146 80,903
Percentage 49.0% 22.0%


Mayor before election

Phil Goff

Elected mayor

Phil Goff

The 2019 Auckland mayoral election was held on 12 October 2019 to determine who would serve as Mayor of Auckland for the next three years. Nominations opened on 19 July 2019 and closed on 16 August 2019.[1] Incumbent Mayor Phil Goff won the election with 48% of the vote to secure a second term.[2][3]

Background

[edit]

Phil Goff was the incumbent mayor of Auckland. Goff became mayor at the 2016 election in which the previous mayor, Len Brown, did not stand. Goff announced in March 2019 that he would stand again.[4]

The election was conducted by postal vote, and used the first past the post vote system.[5]

Key dates

[edit]

Key dates for the election were:[6]

  • 1 July: Electoral Commission enrolment campaign began.
  • 19 July: Nominations opened for candidates. Rolls opened for inspection.
  • 16 August: Nominations closed at 12 noon. Rolls closed.
  • 21 August: Election date and candidates' names announced.
  • 20 to 25 September: Voting documents delivered to households. Electors could post the documents back to electoral officers as soon as they had voted.
  • 12 October: Polling day. Voting documents had to be at council before voting closed at 12 noon. Preliminary results were to be available as soon as all ordinary votes were counted.
  • 17 to 23 October: Official results, including all valid ordinary and special votes, declared.

Candidates

[edit]

The 21 candidates for the mayoralty were:[7][8]

Name Affiliation Notes
Tricia Cheel STOP Trashing our Planet Cheel had previously run for mayor,[9] and had stood for Parliament for the Ban 1080 Party[10] and the Democrats for Social Credit.[11] She has opposed fluoride,[9] vaccinations,[12] glyphosate,[13] and 1080 drops.[10]
Michael Coote Independent
David John Feist LiftNZ
Genevieve Forde none Forde's main issues were addressing climate change and regenerating nature.[14]
Phil Goff Independent The incumbent mayor, in the role since 2016. Goff was a Labour Party Member of Parliament 1981–1990 and 1993–2016, and was leader of the party for three years. He resigned as an MP after being elected as mayor and ran as an independent in this election.[15]
Alezix Heneti none
Jannaha Henry none A 21-year old candidate.[16]
John Hong Independent Also known as Hong Cheng Chen,[17] he immigrated from China in 2003[18] and ran for mayor for the first time.[19] A right-wing candidate, he had previously worked for Panuku Development Auckland, and was the chair of the New Zealand promotion committee for China's Belt and Road Initiative and a government relations adviser for the Chao San General Association of New Zealand.[17]
Ted Johnston none A 59-year-old criminal barrister from South Auckland and former parliamentary candidate for The Opportunities Party. Policies included helping the poor and disadvantaged, stopping "secret meetings", protecting parks and the environment and building fast rail.[citation needed]
Susanna Kruger Justice for Families
Craig Lord Independent A media operator,[15] this was Lord's first time standing in an election. Lord stated that he had no policies and that he considered the mayor to be a 'token' job, given the role of the 20 other councillors.[20]
Brendan Bruce Maddern Independent
Thanh Binh Nguyen Independent
Phil O'Connor Christians Against Abortion
Tom Sainsbury Independent A comedian running under an alter-ego of Fiona (though the name on the ballot was Tom Sainsbury). Fiona claimed in a video that running for mayor was a mistake she made when drunk.[21]
Glen Snelgar Old Skool A right-wing candidate who sought to remove fuel taxes and lower rates.[19]
Tadhg Tim Stopford The Hemp Foundation Stopford is the founder of The Hemp Foundation,[22] which seeks to promote cannabinoids for medicine and industrial uses.[23]
John Tamihere JT for Mayor Tamihere was a Labour Party Member of Parliament from 1999 to 2005, and held Cabinet positions.[24] He was not affiliated with Labour in this election.
Peter Vaughan none A numerologist,[25] Vaughan stated that pollution is the biggest issue facing Auckland, particularly landfills.[19]
Annalucia Vermunt Communist League
Wayne Young Virtual Homeless Community

Prospective candidates who did not stand

[edit]

The following people indicated they might, or would, run for mayor in this election, but ultimately did not.

  • Mike Lee, councillor[26]
  • John Lehmann, president of the Government Accountability League – announced intention to run[27][28] but did not appear in the list of candidates when nominations closed
  • Joshua Love, hospitality entrepreneur – announced intention to run[29] but did not appear in the list of candidates when nominations closed
  • Simon O'Connor, MP for Tamaki[30]
  • John Palino, restaurateur and 2013 and 2016 candidate – announced intention to run on 25 November 2018[31] but withdrew on 12 August 2019,[32] intending to run for Auckland Council instead.[33]

Policies and campaigning

[edit]

The campaign included a number of debates. One debate between Goff, Tamihere, Lord, and Henry discussed issues such as infrastructure, public transport, climate change, parking, and inequality, among other topics.[34] The last debate was on 1 October.[35] Candidate Phil Goff compared the campaign to the previous one saying: "It's a lot different from last time, we had a lot of meetings last time, it's been a more aggressive campaign from his [John Tamihere's] side."[36]

Candidate John Tamihere faced controversy for using the term "Sieg Heil" during a debate. After Goff stated "We won't put up with the sort of nonsense that we get from racists coming into this country to tell us that multiculturalism doesn't work," Tamihere responded, "I say sieg heil to that." After the debate, Tamihere initially denied using the term, then stated his comments were a criticism of Goff's actions around a decision to bar controversial Canadian speakers Stefan Molyneux and Lauren Southern from using an Auckland Council venue in 2018, calling Goff "a dictator".[37]

Tamihere made a complaint over three social media posts posted by Phil Goff, but the complaints were rejected by the Advertising Standards Authority.[38][39]

Some voting booklets contained two incorrect photographs, including showing mayoral candidate Tricia Cheel as a man.[40]

Endorsements

[edit]
Phil Goff
John Tamihere

Results

[edit]
2019 Auckland mayoral election[45][46]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Phil Goff 180,146 48.97 +1.68
Independent John Tamihere 80,903 21.99
Independent Craig Lord 29,577 8.04
Independent John Hong 16,211 4.40
Independent Ted Johnston 15,637 4.25
Independent Peter Vaughan 6,214 1.68
Independent Michael Coote 5,611 1.52
STOP Trashing Our Planet Tricia Cheel 4,116 1.11 +0.60
Christians Against Abortion Phil O'Connor 3,984 1.08 +0.55
Independent Genevieve Forde 2,923 0.79
Justice For Families Susanna Kruger 2,894 0.78 +0.36
Independent Tom Sainsbury 2,853 0.77
Old Skool Glen Snelgar 2,608 0.70
The Hemp Foundation Tadhg Stopford 2,445 0.66
Independent Jannaha Henry 2,417 0.65
LiftNZ David Feist 2,301 0.62
Independent Brendan Maddern 1,446 0.39
Virtual Homeless Community Wayne Young 1,412 0.38 −0.03
Communist League Annalucia Vermunt 1,055 0.28
Independent Thanh Binh Nguyen 954 0.25 ±0.00
Independent Alezix Heneti 514 0.13 −0.02
Total valid votes 366,221 99.57
Informal votes 1,575 0.43 +0.06
Majority 99,243 26.98 +7.85
Turnout 367,796 34.52 −3.37
Registered electors 1,065,383

By local board

[edit]
Local board subdivisions won by Goff
Local board subdivision won by Lord

Source:[47]

Phil Goff John Tamihere Craig Lord John Hong Ted Johnston Others[A] Total
Board Subdivision[B] # % # % # % # % # % # % #
Albert-Eden Owairaka 7,980 63.31 2,058 16.33 622 4.93 386 3.06 369 2.93 1189 9.43 12,604
Albert-Eden Maungawhau 7,561 58.36 2,630 20.3 495 3.82 762 5.88 423 3.27 1084 8.37 12,955
Aotea/GreatBarrier 200 47.73 93 22.2 30 7.16 1 0.24 9 2.15 86 20.53 419
Devonport-Takapuna 8,568 50.89 3,647 21.66 1,103 6.55 814 4.83 825 4.9 1,880 11.17 16,837
Franklin Waiuku 1,530 39.28 770 19.77 737 18.92 44 1.13 222 5.7 592 15.2 3,895
Franklin Pukekohe 3,714 43.54 1,738 20.37 1,458 17.09 87 1.02 447 5.24 1,087 12.74 8,531
Franklin Wairoa 3,027 45.77 1,509 22.82 899 13.59 98 1.48 326 4.93 755 11.42 6,614
Henderson-Massey 10,240 42.83 6,480 27.1 2,100 8.78 1,095 4.58 808 3.38 3,185 13.32 23,908
Hibiscus and Bays Hibiscus Coast 6,536 40.37 4,039 24.94 2,075 12.81 305 1.88 968 5.98 2,269 14.01 16,192
Hibiscus and Bays East Coast Bays 5,731 44.01 2,825 21.7 1,176 9.03 786 6.04 823 6.32 1,680 12.9 13,021
Howick Pakuranga 4,866 43.53 2,442 21.85 786 7.03 1,273 11.39 547 4.89 1,264 11.31 11,178
Howick Howick 5,525 43.77 2,878 22.8 1,061 8.4 1,118 8.86 678 5.37 1,364 10.8 12,624
Howick Botany 5,989 45.29 2647 20.02 669 5.06 1762 13.32 566 4.28 1,592 12.04 13,225
Kaipātiki 10,066 48.94 3,990 19.4 1,802 8.76 1,194 5.8 780 3.79 2,738 13.31 20,570
Māngere-Ōtāhuhu 6,578 54.37 2,855 23.6 388 3.21 156 1.29 403 3.33 1,719 14.21 12,099
Manurewa 7,454 48.58 3,886 25.32 795 5.18 341 2.22 646 4.21 2,223 14.49 15,345
Maungakiekie-Tāmaki Maungakiekie 4,157 57.95 1,361 18.97 399 5.56 249 3.47 298 4.15 710 9.9 7,174
Maungakiekie-Tāmaki Tāmaki 4,491 51.97 1,803 20.87 410 4.74 318 3.68 348 4.03 1,271 14.71 8,641
Ōrākei 13,799 52.9 6,602 25.31 1,296 4.97 848 3.25 1,247 4.78 2,295 8.8 26,087
Ōtara-Papatoetoe Papatoetoe 4,136 53.73 1,674 21.75 296 3.85 215 2.79 312 4.05 1,065 13.83 7,698
Ōtara-Papatoetoe Otara 2,527 51.81 1,304 26.74 80 1.64 78 1.6 188 3.85 700 14.35 4,877
Papakura 5,285 47.91 2,575 23.34 992 8.99 207 1.88 498 4.51 1,474 13.36 11,031
Puketāpapa 8,427 60.49 2,490 17.87 605 4.34 844 6.06 416 2.99 1,150 8.25 13,932
Rodney Wellsford 308 20.37 365 24.14 570 37.7 16 1.06 58 3.84 195 12.9 1,512
Rodney Warkworth 2,499 36.2 1,793 25.97 1,256 18.19 53 0.77 359 5.2 943 13.66 6,903
Rodney Kumeu 2,792 33.42 2,103 25.17 1,785 21.36 112 1.34 425 5.09 1,138 13.62 8,355
Rodney Dairy Flat 609 34.48 509 28.82 226 12.8 79 4.47 130 7.36 213 12.06 1,766
Upper Harbour Upper Harbour 5,831 39.7 3,307 22.52 1,544 10.51 1,380 9.4 727 4.95 1,898 12.92 14,687
Waiheke 1,799 54.88 608 18.55 218 6.65 13 0.4 178 5.43 462 14.09 3,278
Waitākere Ranges 7,231 51.33 2,771 19.67 1,698 12.05 201 1.43 437 3.1 1,749 12.42 14,087
Waitematā 11,342 61.46 3,535 19.16 678 3.67 374 2.03 658 3.57 1,867 10.12 18,454
Whau 9,348 52.75 3,616 20.4 1,328 7.49 1,002 5.65 518 2.92 1,910 10.78 17,722
Total 180,146 49.19 80,903 22.09 29,577 8.08 16,211 4.43 15,637 4.27 43,747 11.95 366,221

Turnout

[edit]

Turnout was expected to be lower than in previous elections. Initial counts, while voting was still open, showed turnout to be lower compared with the same time in the 2016 election.[38][35] The final turnout for Auckland was predicted to be around 35%.[48][49]

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Excludes informal votes
  2. ^ Not all local boards are subdivided

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "About your 2019 local elections". 20 November 2018. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  2. ^ "Live: All results from the local government elections 2019". 12 October 2019. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  3. ^ "Phil Goff wins a second term as Auckland Mayor". The New Zealand Herald. 12 October 2019. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  4. ^ "Phil Goff seeks second term as Auckland mayor". Stuff. 3 March 2019. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  5. ^ "How to vote in the local elections". Auckland Council. Archived from the original on 1 October 2019. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  6. ^ "Race for the mayoralty: What you need to know". Radio NZ. 4 March 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  7. ^ "Auckland local elections: Mayoral candidates officially announced". Stuff.co.nz. 16 August 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  8. ^ "Candidate List | 10 September 2019" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 August 2019. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  9. ^ a b "Auckland's mayoral also-rans bicker and squabble". Newshub. 28 September 2016. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  10. ^ a b "Anti-1080 campaigner says she's relieved at news of arrest". RNZ. 14 October 2015. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  11. ^ "Northcote by-election – the results". Newshub. 6 October 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  12. ^ "New video of Lance O'Sullivan clashing with anti-vaxxer emerges". Newshub. 25 May 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  13. ^ "Mayoral candidates: Meet the 18 trying to win the Auckland mayoralty". Stuff. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  14. ^ Council, Auckland. "Candidate information". Auckland Council. Retrieved 3 October 2019.[permanent dead link]
  15. ^ a b "Phil Goff seeks second term as Auckland mayor". 3 March 2019.
  16. ^ Niall, Todd (17 August 2019). "Auckland mayoral race: 21-year-old to run". Stuff. Archived from the original on 16 August 2019. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  17. ^ a b Murphy, Tim (11 October 2019). "Beyond John Hong's political debut". Newsroom. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  18. ^ "John Hong | Independent Auckland Mayoral Candidate". John Hong 2019. Archived from the original on 3 October 2019. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  19. ^ a b c "Auckland mayoralty: Four lesser-known candidates' present their ideas". Newshub. 18 September 2019. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  20. ^ Truebridge, Nick (25 July 2019). "Meet the Candidates: 'Grassroots' Auckland mayoral hopeful Craig Lord attacks higher-profile rivals". Stuff. Archived from the original on 24 July 2019. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  21. ^ "Comedian Tom Sainsbury has thrown his hat into the Auckland mayoral race". Stuff.co.nz. 17 August 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  22. ^ "The Hemp Foundation / Our Team". thehempfoundation. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  23. ^ "The Hemp Foundation / Objectives". thehempfoundation. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  24. ^ "John Tamihere confirms run for Auckland mayoralty". Newshub – newshub.co.nz. 26 January 2019. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  25. ^ "Numerologist Peter Vaughan runs for Auckland mayoralty". Stuff. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  26. ^ "Veteran politician Mike Lee might challenge Phil Goff for Auckland mayoralty". Stuff.co.nz. 8 May 2019. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  27. ^ "Another hat in the ring: John Lehmann confirms bid for Auckland mayoralty". The New Zealand Herald. 5 March 2019. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  28. ^ "Group invites Phil Goff to debate free speech with Pauline Hanson at a council-owned venue". Newshub – newshub.co.nz. 10 August 2018. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  29. ^ Lawton, Nicole (14 February 2019). "Lime e-scooter glitch: Injured Auckland man calls on Mayor Phil Goff to take action". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  30. ^ Orsman, Bernard (21 November 2018). "National MP Simon O'Connor considering a tilt at the Auckland mayoralty". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  31. ^ Christian, Harrison (25 November 2018). "John Palino confirms another tilt at Auckland mayoralty". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  32. ^ "John Palino withdraws from Auckland mayoral race". Radio New Zealand. 12 August 2019.
  33. ^ "John Palino withdraws from Auckland mayoral race".
  34. ^ "Stuff Auckland mayoral debate recap: Polished Goff smothers opposition with stats, calls out 'Trumpism'". Stuff. 2 September 2019. Archived from the original on 3 September 2019. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  35. ^ a b "Auckland mayoral race: No worries about low voter turnout". Stuff. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  36. ^ "Mayoral candidates worried about voter engagement". RNZ. 10 October 2019. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  37. ^ Truebridge, Nick (18 September 2019). "Auckland mayoral candidate John Tamihere's Nazi slogan 'utterly unacceptable'". Stuff. Archived from the original on 30 September 2019. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  38. ^ a b Niall, Todd (28 September 2019). "Auckland Council Election: Voting trend remains at an all-time low". Stuff. Archived from the original on 1 October 2019. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  39. ^ "Complaint number 19/356" (PDF). ASA Complaints Board. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 October 2019.
  40. ^ "Electoral Board blunder puts wrong candidate photos on Auckland booklets". 22 September 2019. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  41. ^ Niall, Todd (20 December 2018). "Labour endorses Phil Goff for 2019 Auckland mayoralty". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  42. ^ Goff, Phil (9 August 219). "David Tua". Facebook. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
  43. ^ "John Tamihere and Christine Fletcher team up to challenge Auckland Mayor Phil Goff". Stuff.co.nz. 26 January 2019. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  44. ^ "Former Auckland City Mayor John Banks decides against fresh campaign". Stuff.co.nz. 26 July 2019. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  45. ^ "2019 local elections final results – Mayor, local board members, ward councillors" (PDF). Auckland Council. 18 October 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  46. ^ "Voting Document Returns - 2019 Elections" (PDF). Auckland Council. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  47. ^ "2019 local elections final results – Mayoral candidates total votes by local board/subdivision" (PDF). Auckland Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 October 2019.
  48. ^ Donnell, Hayden (13 October 2019). "Winners, losers, big losers, and gigantic losers from the 2019 local elections". The Spinoff. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  49. ^ "Preliminary voter turnout 2019". www.lgnz.co.nz. Retrieved 15 October 2019.[permanent dead link]