Christchurch mayoral hopefuls David Meates and Phil Mauger will face off in a live debate
Phil Mauger has secured a second term as mayor of Christchurch with an emphatic victory in the local elections.
The incumbent says he is “very, very happy” after dominating the Christchurch mayoralty race by almost 20,000 votes.
Progress results show Mauger secured 54,644 votes, followed by his nearest rivalSara Templeton, who received 34,726 votes. Third-placed candidate Thomas Healey had 1547 votes.
Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger celebrates at home after winning a second term in the local elections. Photo / Rosie Leishman
The Christchurch local election was the first major result to be called, with Mauger’s victory announced less than 90 minutes after polls closed at 12pm.
“We are lucky that the whole of Canterbury is doing pretty well,” Mauger added.
Sara Templeton thanked her supporters after conceding defeat in the Christchurch mayoralty race. Photo / Supplied
Fellow candidate Templeton thanked her supporters after conceding defeat in the election.
“While today’s result wasn’t what we hoped for, I’m deeply proud of the positive, future-focused campaign we ran and so grateful to everyone who believed in a better future for our city,” Templeton said.
She added it was a “tough ask” to beat the incumbent mayor, but it was important for residents to have a “real choice”.
“We focused on the issues that matter: fixing infrastructure, building strong communities, and creating a fairer, greener, more connected and resilient city ready to face the challenges ahead.”
As mayor, Mauger told NZME he was determined to work with all councillors for the greater good of the city.
“Whatever councillors are put in front of you, we all work together for the common good. No councillor goes to work to do a bad job.”
He described his main focus as working to keep debt down.
“Twenty-five cents of every rate dollar we get goes to debt servicing. If we can get some of our debt down, it means we can spend it on libraries, footpaths, swimming pools, whatever. I just want to keep debt down,” he said.
Christchurch elected two new councillors and 14 returning councillors, though Mauger is yet to select a Deputy Mayor.
