Far North Mayor Moko Tepania has successfully being re-elected.
Far North Mayor Moko Tepania has successfully being re-elected.
Voting for the 2025 local body elections closed at midday, progress results are being published this afternoon with official results expected on Friday.
NZMEhas created this interactive tool where you can search for results from more than 650 local body election races once they are available.
Today’s results are the voting count based on ballot papers cast before 5pm on Friday. Votes cast before midday today and special votes are not included.
The early count reflects about 90% of all votes but is not the final count which is expected this Friday.
Whangārei District Council
Sixty-seven votes are all that separates incumbent mayor Vince Cocurullo and rival Ken Couper for the district’s top job.
Cocurullo currently leads the race with 9841 votes ahead of Couper’s 9774 votes and third favourite, Marie Olsen on 6937 votes.
Vince Cocurullo during his time as Whangārei Mayor. Photo / Susan Botting
Olsen will represent the ward along with Brad Flower - who results indicate lost his mayoralty early - as well as Paul Yovich, Nicholas Connop, and former district councillor Chrichton Christie.
Larsen, a former professional firefighter and a councillor for four terms, was deputy mayor under Craig Jepson, who did not seek re-election.
Jonathan Larsen is the current favourite for Kaipara Mayor.
Tane is new to the political arena. His experience has been in business; governance forums such as Civil Defence, and management roles with Te Roroa Development Group.
Next is Jason Smith with 2460 followed by Ash Nayyar yet to cross the 1000 threshold with 982 votes in his favour.
Tane is strides ahead in the race for one of three available Wairoa Ward seats as he sits on 1941 votes.
More than 700 votes separate Tane and closest rivals Joesephine Nathan, who has 1151 votes, and Jan Beatty with 1081.
Snow Tane is close behind Jonathan Larsen for the Kaipara Mayoralty.
Behind Beatty is Gordon Lambeth, who was seeking re-election to the position, on 1070 votes and former Māori Ward Pera Paniora with 1056 votes.
Both Nathan and Beatty are council newcomers. Nathan was born in Dargaville and raised on a dairy farm in Pouto, and Beatty is a long-time Tangiteroria resident who served as Tangiteroria School Board of Trustees chair.
First in line for the three vacancies in the Kaiwaka-Mangawhai Ward is Rachael Williams with 1597 votes.
Behind her is the now former mayor Craig Jepson, clocking 1419 votes, and third is newcomer Luke Canton with 1333.
Former Kaipara mayor appears to have secured a seat in the Kaiwaka-Mangawhai Ward. Photo / Susan Botting
Canton is a Mangawhai local of more than 15 years and has served three terms at the Mangawhai Beach School Board, among other roles.
The current favourites to fill the two Otamatea Ward vacancies are Mike Schimanski on 674 votes and Mark Vincent, just 17 votes shy of the lead.
Schimanski is a new face to the council table. He has lived in Kaipara for more than 30 years and has experience in farming, roading and infrastructure, the local building industry and as a volunteer firefighter.
Far North District Council
Progress results for Far North District Council confirm Moko Tepania has been re-elected mayor.
He made history in the last local elections when he became the Far North’s first Māori mayor.
Aged 31 at the time, the Te Reo Māori teacher was also the youngest mayor elected in Northland.
In 2022, he was tied neck-and-neck with the then deputy mayor Ann Court.
Far North mayoral candidate Ann Court. Photo / Susan Botting
This year, Tepania is more than 3600 clear of Court, with Sovereign’s Joshua Riley a distant third.
It is a mixed bag for Far North District councillors, with six incumbents retaining their seats and four newcomers joining the table.
Court retained her seat in the Bay of Islands-Whangaroa General Ward, while newcomer Davina Smolders took the second spot.
Incumbent deputy mayor Kelly Stratford took the third and final seat, while incumbent Steve McNally was voted out.
Incumbent deputy mayor Kelly Stratford took the third and final seat in the Bay of Islands-Whangaroa General Ward. Photo / NZME
The Kaikohe-Hokianga General Ward was retained by John Vujcich, who will serve his fifth term.
In the Ngā Tai o Tokerau Māori Ward, incumbents Hilda Halkyard-Harawira and Tāmati Rākena have been provisionally re-elected, alongside newcomers Chicky Rudkin and Arohanui Allen.
This means incumbents Penetaui Kleskovic and Babe Kapa miss out on re-election.
In the Te Hiku General Ward, incumbent Felicity Foy has been re-elected alongside newcomer Rachel Baucke, with long-standing councillor Mate Radich standing down.
Northland Regional Council
There has been an upset in Northland Regional Council’s Te Raki Māori Ward.
Newcomers Pita Tipene and Arama Morunga have ousted incumbents Peter-Lucas Jones and Tui Shortland.
Former Waitangi National Trust chair Pita Tipene. Photo / Dean Purcell
Tipene, who is the former chair of the Waitangi National Trust, is 2280 votes ahead of Shortland, the incumbent deputy chair.
Another Northland Regional Council upset has taken place in the Coastal South General Constituency.
Mangawhai’s John Hunt has beaten incumbent Rick Stolwerk by 419 votes, with Robert Goodhue sitting in third.
Rick Stolwerk was beaten in the race for the Coastal South General Constituency.
Voters have decided they want more of the same in many of the council’s regional wards.
Incumbents Amy MacDonald (Coastal Central), Joe Carr (Far North), John Blackwell (Kaipara), Jack Craw (Whangārei Central) and Colin (Toss) Kitchen (Bay of Islands-Whangaroa) have all been re-elected.
Geoff Crawford, the incumbent chair, was also elected unopposed to Mid North.
The new chair for Northland Regional Council will be elected by the new councillors, who will have plenty of experience to choose from.
Māori ward yes or no vote
Whangārei voters have polled to remove the district’s Māori ward.
They are not alone as voters have decided they want to get rid of the Māori constituency at Northland Regional Council (NRC) meaning this will be the last term for the constituency.
This year’s turnout in Whangārei matches 2022’s 36.8% turnout but is below 2019’s 40.6% turnout.
Just over 50% of Kaipara’s eligible voters have had their say, according to the latest voting return data.
One of a dozen billboards around Whangārei urging people to vote in this year's local elections. Photo / Susan Botting
The Wairoa General Ward led the pack with a 54.4% return as of today. Closely behind was the Otamatea Ward at 48.4%. Meanwhile, 46.9% voted in the Kaiwaka-Mangawhai Ward.
The 2022 local election had a 47.7% return rate in Kaipara, and before that 42.6% of eligible people cast their votes.
Approximately 44% of Far North voters decided to exercise their right to vote this year, slightly higher than the 41.5% in 2022.
The Northland Regional Council has a total of 133,713 voters, 39.6% of whom had done so at last count.
