"Of the upper North Island, I was the candidate selected first so I had more time than anyone else.. I was full-time [campaigning] for six months."
Mr Reti, a doctor, had been living in Boston, on a Harkness Fellowship to Harvard. He examined community health issues such as how to improve appointment rates at public hospitals, and once offered to fund a $70,000 survey on fluoride out of his own pocket.
He said his plan was to focus on the region's economic developments, particularly job creation. "I want to give people real choices and the money in their pockets to make those choices."
