National's five enter final battle for Northland electorate

Tomorrow voters in the Northland electorate will know who is likely to represent them in Parliament after the November election.
With National's Northland MP John Carter stepping down after 24 years in the job, competition to replace him in the traditionally safe seat has been intense.
A nine-member National Party panel, four of whom were elected at the Party's Northland AGM earlier this month, whittled the list of aspiring candidates to five.
The party will not say how many made it as far as panel interviews on April 9-10, but withdrawals thinned out the 12-strong field of Northlanders who originally put up their hands.
The short-listed five - Sarah Davies, Matt King, Ken Rintoul, Mike Sabin and Mark Tan - have been introducing themselves to party delegates in Dargaville, Maungaturoto and Kerikeri, with the final pre-selection meeting in Kaitaia last night.
The Party's 275 delegates, each representing 15 members, will cast their votes in Kaikohe from 10am tomorrow.
The selection of Northland's first new National candidate in a generation has led to a surge in party membership.
Electorate chairwoman Sally Macauley said the number of delegates had gone from 230 (representing about 3450 members) to 275 (more than 4100 members).
A party panel had completed the first step in the selection process, and now the final decision was up to the delegates, she said.
Two of the five prospective candidates are former police detectives and three are business owners.
They are barred from speaking to the media until after Saturday's voting.
Sarah Davies Of Taheke near Kaikohe, is the strategic development manager for YWCA New Zealand. From 2009-10 she worked at the YWCA's headquarters in Switzerland. The youngest in the field, aged 29, she is also the only woman. She was born in Chile and educated in Masterton and Auckland.
Matt King Of Okaihau owns Mid North Honda at Waipapa, two dry stock farms and Northern Investigations, a private investigation firm he set up after 14 years with the police in Auckland and the Mid North. He is married with three school-age children.
Ken Rintoul Of Okaihau owns civil construction and contracting firm Rintoul Civil. Last year the firm he and his wife founded won the construction, manufacturing and trades category of the Northland Business Excellence Awards. They have two adult children and own two beef farms. He is a director of Metro Civil and, until two weeks ago, Far North Holdings Ltd.
Mike Sabin Of Coopers Beach is a former police detective who founded MethCon, a company which works to raise awareness of the dangers of methamphetamine or P. He sold the firm earlier this year. He is also known for his battle to help his son Darryl recover from a severe brain injury suffered in a rugby game.
Mark Tan Of Ahipara is a teacher at Abundant Life School, a Christian school in Kaitaia. The 35-year-old is also the National Party's Northland electorate secretary and a keen surfer.