Ann Court, centre, yesterday celebrated news of her potential mayoralty with close family. However, new results mean that is now up in the air. Photo / Peter de Graaf
All three of Northland's new mayors were named in yesterday's progress results.
However, preliminary results released this afternoon have turned the Far North outcome on its head.
Far North deputy mayor Ann Court initially came out on top of Saturday's progress results, but the small margin between her and runner-up Moko Tepania not only closed - it switched.
As of Sunday afternoon, 247 votes put the new front-runner, Tepania, ahead of Court.
If successful, 31-year-old Tepania will be the first Māori Far North mayor and the youngest ever Northland mayor.
The sitting councillor and te reo Māori teacher at Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Kaikohe would likely also be the first Māori mayor elected anywhere in Northland.
Tepania would not, however, be the youngest mayor ever elected in New Zealand. That title is held by Campbell Barry, who was 28 when first voted in as Lower Hutt mayor in 2019.
The swings and roundabouts between him and Court may continue, as special votes will be counted tomorrow and will be reflected in the final results due later this week, potentially as late as Friday.
Court described the shift in results as "nail-biting stuff".
She deliberately had a low-key celebration yesterday after the initial results went live because the gap between her and Tepania was so narrow.
Still, a bottle of bubbly was popped with close family at her home in Waipapa to celebrate the culmination of a 24-year career in local government.
Court said the district's 82,000 people (and 400 "amazing" council staff) needed a council that never lost sight of them or forgot they mattered.
She had not campaigned in the traditional way, but instead relied on voters to be guided by her track record.
"I didn't stick up billboards, I never turned up at a farmers' market, shook hands, kissed babies or asked people to vote for me. I'm not that kind of politician," she said.
Court has served two terms as a community board member and six terms as a councillor.
She has been deputy to two previous mayors — Wayne Brown and John Carter — and is the Northland representative on the Regional Land Transport Committee.
Brown, a Mangōnui engineer and businessman, was elected Auckland's mayor on Saturday after beating main rival Efeso Collins by 54,000 votes.
Court said during her campaign that she had held every elected position on the Far North District Council except the mayoralty.
"I just take my job seriously and give it 100 per cent ... At the end of every three years, I ask the public, 'Did I do it? If I did, vote for me again, and if I didn't, pick someone else'," she told the Advocate today.
"I don't believe in turning up three months before an election and raising a profile. You need to be fighting for your district for the whole three years."
Court said her priorities if she were mayor would include preparing for the looming "reform storm" and operating a council without committees, so every councillor was "100 per cent aware" of every issue and could make the right decisions.
She was also keen to give more power to community boards to make local decisions.
Court, 60, first got involved in local politics due to concerns about the notorious Waipapa Rd-State Highway 10 intersection.
"When I started my local government journey it was because I didn't think the council cared or listened, and the only way to change that was from the inside.
"I've never stopped caring; I don't have thick skin. I haven't been able to deliver everything that everyone wants, because it's a democracy," she said.
"But it's important the platform is there for you to have your say."
The other candidates standing for the Far North mayoralty were Jaqi Brown, Clinton Dearlove, Kevin Middleton, Joshua Riley, Kelly Stratford, Moko Tepania, John Vujcich and Rachel Witana.
Of those, Brown and Middleton were standing for the mayoralty only. The other seven were also contesting council seats.
The new council will be very different to its predecessors, with 10 instead of nine councillors, four of whom will be elected from the Ngā Tai o Tokerau Māori Ward — the first time a designated Māori ward has been used in the Far North.
Preliminary results for Whangārei still showed Vince Cocurullo as the clear favourite - with no more votes added to his tally of 7132.
Kaipara District Council is yet to release their latest figures, but Craig Jepson had a strong lead of more than 1400 votes for the position of Kaipara mayor.
Jepson was elated to win the district's top job.
"I'd love to thank the people of Kaipara. They're just a wonderful mixed group of individuals," he said.
The Mangawhai local hoped to unite the district under his new banner.
"We need to eliminate the east-west divide - I hope to be a mayor for everybody."
One of Jepson's first priorities is to explore ways to keep rates down by looking at staff numbers and cost-cutting.
Three Waters and changes to the RMA are also issues concerning Jepson that he would look at first.
He is also opposed to co-governance.
"I think I've been elected because I stood on those issues," Jepson said.
The businessman beat out five other mayoral candidates, including Victoria del la Varis-Woodcock, a councillor who attended the anti-mandate protests in Wellington earlier this year.
He won the mayoralty by more than 1400 votes. He received 3689 votes, and Karen Joyce-Paki received 2243.
Ash Nayyar came third with 1549 votes. Victoria del la Varis-Woodcock, Gordon Walker and Brenden Nathan all received fewer than 1000 votes.
New Whangārei mayor Vince Cocurullo, 48, says he is excited about leading the district forward in a time of rapid growth.
"Thank you to all those who voted for me. I'm proud to be a locally-born mayor representing the people of Whangārei district," he said.
Cocurullo, self-described as centre-right, stated a lot of work needed to be done.
"I'm looking forward to getting the new council on track," he said.
Cocurullo's fourth attempt at the mayoralty saw a resounding majority with 7132 votes.
The breakdown of votes for the remaining candidates is: Brad Flower - 3963, Shaquille Shortland - 1708, Nick Jacob - 1397, and then Fiona Green - 891.
Cocurullo was first elected to the Whangārei District Council 15 years ago in 2007. He stood unsuccessfully for mayor in the 2010 and 2013 local government elections, but was again elected as a WDC councillor in 2016 and 2019.
He said the district council would continue to oppose the current government-restructuring plan regarding Three Waters.
Cocurullo said his vote against Māori wards was based on the process used to bring the Māori electoral area in without thorough public consultation.
Roughly 38 per cent of the 130,000-plus eligible Northlanders cast a vote in this year's election.
Final confirmed results are expected between October 13-19.
Whangārei District Council
Newcomers make up almost 40 per cent of the council's post-local-election lineup.
Preliminary results still show newcomers Deb Harding, Patrick Holmes, Scott McKenzie, Phoenix Ruka and Paul Yovich elected onto the council.
They join newly-elected WDC mayor and re-elected councillors Nick Connop, Ken Couper, Gavin Benney, Jayne Golightly, Phil Halse, Carol Peters and Simon Reid.
Longtime incumbent councillor and former head of WDC's heavyweight infrastructure committee Greg Martin was ousted from his Hikurangi-Coastal electoral area.
Martin had held the Hikurangi-Coastal electoral area along with Gavin Benney, who will return thanks to 1680 votes.
Benney is joined in the new Hikurangi-Coastal General Ward by newcomer Scott McKenzie, who got 1416 votes.
Meanwhile, incumbent Simon Reid was re-elected to the Mangakahia-Maungatapere General Ward with 1532 votes ahead of competitor Iain James Robertson's 685 votes, in a 42.3 per cent turnout from among the ward's 4667 voters.
Northland's biggest 2022 local election voter turnout from among all four councils saw Whangārei Heads General Ward's new representative Patrick Holmes achieve 1826 votes, 75 per cent ahead of sole rival David Blackley's 1016 votes.
In Northland's major powerhouse and biggest single urban ward, Whangārei Urban General Ward, the five vacancies were filled by re-elected Jayne Golightly (5234 votes), Carol Peters (3912 votes) and Nick Connop (4025 votes) along with newcomers Paul Yovich (3771 votes) and Marie Olsen (3524 votes).
Meanwhile, WDC's first-time Whangārei District Māori Ward is to be represented by newcomers Deb Harding (868 votes) and Phoenix Ruka (840 votes).
Halse has been re-elected back into his former Bream Bay area via WDC's Bream Bay General Ward with 2289 votes, along with the re-election of Couper, who got 2408 votes.
The ward's 10,073 electors achieved a 43.9 per cent voter turnout at edition time - one of Northland's third-highest 2022 local election turnouts.
Far North
According to preliminary results, the new general ward councillors for the Far North District Council are Ann Court, Kelly Stratford and Steve McNally (Bay of Islands-Whangaroa Ward), John Vujcich (Kaikohe-Hokianga Ward), Felicity Foy and Mate Radich (Te Hiku Ward).
The first-ever Far North District councillors elected to represent a dedicated Māori ward are Moko Tepania, Hilda Halkyard-Harawira, Tāmati Rākena and Penetaui Kleskovic.
Halkyard-Harawira is a former principal who established Te Rangi Aniwaniwa, a school north of Kaitaia. She is a world champion waka ama paddler and the wife of former MP Hone Harawira.
Tāmati Rākena is a Mitimiti-based te reo Māori teacher, academic and founder of a charitable trust which helps Māori in tertiary education.
Kleskovic is the commercial operations manager for Far North iwi Te Aupōuri and a son of former MP Shane Jones.
If Tepania maintains his lead and becomes Far North Mayor, the next highest polling candidate will take his place at the council table. On current numbers that would be Babe Kapa, a former chief executive of Te Rūnanga-ā-Iwi o Ngāpuhi.
In total, 18 people put their names forward for the Far North's Ngā Tai o Tokerau — more than any other Maori ward in the country.
The only local body that came close to that was Gisborne District Council, where 13 candidates were competing for five Tairawhiti Māori ward seats.
Turnout in the Far North has been disappointing despite the prospect of a new mayor, the introduction of Māori wards, and a wide choice of high-calibre candidates.
By the close of voting at noon on Saturday 35.7 per cent, or just over one in three, of eligible Far North voters had had their say.
That's well down on the 47.5 per cent at the same time in the 2019 local elections.
The most politically engaged wards were Te Hiku and Bay of Islands-Whangaroa, which both had a turnout of 39.5 per cent.
Kaikohe-Hokianga was close behind with 39 per cent, but the new Ngā Tai o Tokerau Māori Ward was trailing behind with 26.4 per cent. That means just over one in four people on the Māori roll cast a vote.
Voting figures show a last-minute rush to the ballot box, with 300 votes cast in Kerikeri alone on Saturday morning.
Far North community board results are:
• Bay of Islands-Whangaroa Community Board
Kawakawa-Moerewa Subdivision: Roddy Pihema
Kerikeri Subdivision: Lane Ayr, Amy Slack
Paihia Subdivision: Belinda Ward
Russell-Ōpua Subdivision: Jane Hindle (elected unopposed)
Waipapa Subdivision: Tyler Bamber (elected unopposed)
Whangaroa Subdivision: Bruce Mills (elected unopposed)
• Kaikohe-Hokianga Community Board
Kaikohe Subdivision: Chicky Rudkin, Mike Edmonds, Trinity Edwards
North Hokianga Subdivision: Harmonie Gundry
South Hokianga Subdivision: Jessie McVeagh, Tanya Filia
• Te Hiku Community Board
Doubtless Bay Subdivision: Sheryl Bainbridge
Kaitāia Subdivision: Adele Gardner, Rachel Baucke, John Stewart
North Cape Subdivision: Darren Axe
Whatuwhiwhi Subdivision: William Subritzky
Kaipara
Kaipara's preliminary results are still pending. However, their progressive figures released yesterday showed Jonathan Larsen, Rachael Williams and Mike Howard had been elected councillors in Kaipara's Kaiwaka-Mangawhai General Ward.
Mark Vincent and Ron Manderson won seats for the Otamatea General Ward.
In the Wairoa General Ward, Gordon Lambeth, Ash Nayyar and Eryn Wilson-Collins won the available three seats.
Karen Joyce-Paki, a sitting councillor who ran for mayor, also failed to win in her bid to represent the Wairoa General Ward.
Pera Paniora will represent the new Te Moananui o Kaipara Māori Ward.
The turnout in the Kaiwaka-Mangawhai General Ward, where new mayor Craig Jepson lives, was the second-highest of any ward in Northland, at 44.4 per cent as of Friday October 7.
The overall turnout in Kaipara was 40.1 per cent on Friday, higher than 37.8 per cent at the same time in 2019.
Driver: 'I had a heavy addiction and that was a huge part of what happened. I apologise.'