ANALYSIS: It took an eleventh hour bid for Wellington's mayoral race to get hot, but the battle for the city's wards and regional council seats has been bubbling away for some time.
Local body election candidate nominations have closed, the players have been revealed, and the game is on.
Revelations Sir Peter Jackson is bankrolling mayoral candidate Andy Foster means the Shelly Bay saga will be an election issue.
Meanwhile, councillor Diane Calvert's mayoral bid has the Julie Anne Genter secret letter saga written all over it.
One of the most interesting wards in the city to watch will be Onslow-Western.
It's got the Labour machine running at full noise, several mayoral bids, and three current sitting councillors known to be outspoken around the table.
Meanwhile, the city's bus fiasco will put the spotlight on Greater Wellington Regional Council in this year's election.
The bid for the top
The competition vacuum mayoral candidate Conor Hill made the most of filling for a few weeks has well and truly disappeared.
He got airtime being Justin Lester's only opponent but now he'll be looking to change his strategy to stay in the game.
Hill tried to cut Foster's lunch by issuing a press release welcoming the new candidate to the mayoral race hours before the official announcement, jumping on the fact his website had gone live.
Earlier that week Hill also announced he was running for the Onslow-Western Ward, which seems to have turned into the ward of mayoral bids.
Hill could see the ward as a more viable opportunity to snap up a seat at the council table than getting in as mayor.
He's pumping out the press releases like there's no tomorrow pitching policy after policy.
Foster's announcement also came with a swell of policies and ideas, although he didn't really have any other choice knowing he'd otherwise be accused of running a one-issue campaign on Shelly Bay.
Incumbent Justin Lester on the other hand is playing his cards close to his chest.
We really haven't heard boo from him on the campaign front since he announced he was running for a second term back in May.
He made three policy pledges at the time and hasn't said anything further.
But we'll undoubtedly hear more from the incumbent now he has Foster and Jackson on his hands.
Foster's 27 years at the council table will serve him well against the likes of Calvert, a first term councillor, and Hill, who's bid came left-field.
But with that experience, comes a record of decisions he's made for the city. It provides an opportunity for Lester to dig up some controversial ones and use it to his advantage, if he was that way inclined.
Meanwhile, the ripples from the Julie Anne Genter secret letter saga are flowing through Diane Calvert's mayoral bid, which came the week after the letter was dragged through the House for days on end.
"Our city needs real leadership that's for Wellingtonians and not just the Beehive," Calvert said.
That's a direct jab at Lester and Labour.
It alludes to Calvert's discontent over the way she says Lester portrayed the Government-endorsed Let's Get Wellington Moving package as the best deal they were going to get.
"There seems to be some heavy political, ideological, influence happening," she said just a couple of days before she announced her mayoral bid.
The Labour grip
The Labour machine is hard at work with the party running a candidate in every single one of the city's wards. Brian Dawson, Peter Gilberd and Fleur Fitzsimons are the current city councillors on Labour's ticket.
They're all seeking re-election and are joined by new candidates Rebecca Matthews for the Onslow-Western Ward and Teri O'Neill for the Eastern Ward.
There's a big push to get Matthews across the line in Onslow-Western.
Lester has put in thousands of phone calls on her behalf and Finance Minister Grant Robertson has even joined her door-knocking campaign.
The incumbent isn't just doing the party's bidding of course, it's in his interests to get Matthews on board if he's successful in securing a second term as mayor.
If she gets across the line and the other three sitting councillors are re-elected, Lester would have an easier job securing a majority for voting things through.
It's the thought of exactly this scenario that has Calvert preaching about having balance at the council table. It's too much Labour Party and too much central government politics for her liking.
The mass exodus
As the full extent of the city's bus fiasco was realised the talk about town was of a mass exodus at Greater Wellington Regional Council in this year's elections.
That hasn't quite come to fruition to the extent some were expecting, but the public will have the final say when it comes to voting time.
The constituency to watch in relation to the buses is obviously Wellington.
Sue Kedgley isn't seeking re-election and neither is Ian McKinnon.
Chris Laidlaw, who is also the council's chairman, is joining them in hanging up the boots.
That's opened up the promise of fresh blood with only Daran Ponter and Roger Blakeley seeking another term representing the constituency.
Back in 2016 there were 11 candidates hoping to represent Wellington, but this time around there's more than double that number, with 23 vying for a spot.
Meanwhile, current Sustainable Transport Committee chairwoman Barbara Donaldson is hoping for another term representing the Porirua-Tawa constituency.
She's banking on the fact people living in that area did not face the same bus terrors as those in Wellington.
Familiar faces
Putting the politics surrounding the bustastrophe to one side, there are some interesting familiar faces on the candidate list for Greater Wellington Regional Council.
David Lee is having a crack after two terms as a city councillor elected on the Greens ticket.
But he won't be wearing the party colours in his bid for the regional council after he says he was "shafted" for the "greener" Thomas Nash.
John Klaphake is also in the running.
In the lead up to the previous election the volunteer firefighter was busy defending himself against a charge of careless driving.
Klaphake ran a red light and crashed into an SUV on the way to a house fire in Newtown.
Following a judge alone trial he was found guilty, but his case triggered change to Fire and Emergency's policy on financial support for those dealing with legal proceeding brought against them in the course of their duties.
Lesleigh Salinger is also on the list.
She chaired the Karori Association during the time Victoria University decided to sell its former campus in the suburb.
The sale followed a bitter fight to keep the land in public hands and was quite the hoo-ha.
It will come as no surprise Helene Ritchie is a candidate.
She's had various stints on both the regional and city councils and has done time on the Capital and Coast District Health Board.
If you thought Foster has been around the block a few times spending 27 years as a city councillor, Ritchie's done 30.
