Final council candidates revealed

Nominations have closed for the local body elections. Photo/File

Nominations for positions on the various local government bodies representing Rotorua residents ended today at midday, now the real campaigning begins.

The full list of candidates can be found below.

But, it looks like one election race has already been run with just four nominations received for the four positions on the Rotorua Lakes Council's newly formed Rural Community Board.

Former district councillor Bob Martin, Euan McLachlan, Chris Sutton and Shirley Trumper will make up the new board.

There were 35 nominations made for the 10 positions on the Rotorua Lakes Council and seven nominations made for the position of mayor.

Long-serving councillor Glenys Searancke's name is missing from the list after she announced her retirement from local body politics earlier this year.

There are four positions available on the council's Lakes Community Board, with seven nominations received. Long serving board member and chairman Geoff Palmer has decided not to run for election this year.

For the Bay of Plenty Regional Council's two Rotorua seats, four nominations have been made with former Rotorua mayor Kevin Winters throwing his hat in the ring.

He will take on incumbent regional councillors Lyall Thurston and Neil Oppatt, and first time candidate Katie Paul.

For the Okurei Maori constituency that represent Rotorua, Gina Mohi will take on incumbent councillor Arapeta Tahana.

The Lakes District Health Board has 25 candidates for the seven contestable positions on the board.

Voting will be held by post with voting documents being sent to those enrolled from Friday September 16 to Wednesday September 21.

People can vote anytime between then and midday on election day October 8.
Voting for both councils is first-past-the-post, meaning the winners will be the candidates with the highest number of votes.

The health board uses a single transferable voting system where voters rank their preferred candidates in order of preferance.

All candidates have lodged a 150-word statement and photograph with the respective councils and boards and they can be viewed on each organisation's websites or at www.electionz.com.

Rotorua district mayoral candidates:
- Steve Chadwick (Mrs)
- Mark Gould
- Rob Kent
- Rangimarie Kingi
- Frances Louis
- Dr Reynold Macpherson
- John Rakei-Clark
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Rotorua Lakes Council candidates:
- Natasha Benfell
- Peter Bentley
- Kingi Biddle
- Stuart Burns
- Julie Calnan
- Rawiri Daniels
- Dave Donaldson
- John Dyer
- Shelly Riach Fischer
- Joseph Gielen
- Mark Gould
- Bill Hedges
- Bobby Mihi Howard
- Karen Hunt
- Annette Joyce
- Rob Kent
- Eraia Kiel
- Raj Kumar
- Rosemary MacKenzie
- Haydn Marriner
- Trevor Maxwell
- Mike McVicker
- Leonie Pritchard
- Merepeka Raukawa-Tait
- Carolyn Sanitago
- Kiri Skipwith
- Michael Staite
- Victor Storey
- Charles Sturt
- Tania Tapsell
- David Waru
- Warren Webber
- Janet Wepa
- Charlie Windell
- Waitsu Wu
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Rotorua Lakes Community Board candidates:
- Neil Callaghan
- Nick Chater
- Jerry Douglas
- Ryan Gray
- Jim Stanton
- Fred Stevens
- Phill Thomass
*
Rotorua Rural Community Board: (no election needed)
- Bob Martin
- Euan McLachlan
- Chris Sutton
- Shirley Trumper
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Lakes District Health Board candidates:
- Caraline Abbott
- Julie Beach
- Maggie Bentley
- Mary Burdon
- Stuart Burns
- Suellyn Caudwell
- Brian Eagle
- Desmond Epp
- Ailsa Gathergood
- Kathy Hawker
- Bill Hedges
- Janine Horton
- Frances Louis
- Peri Marks
- Daniel Murdoch McKay
- Johan Morreau
- Christine Rankin
- Merepeka Raukawa-Tait
- Karen Reed
- Marilyn Ross
- Victor Storey
- Lyall Thurston
- Rob Vigor-Brown
- Chris Webber
- Janet Wepa
*
Bay of Plenty Regional Council candidates:
- Neil Oppatt
- Katie Priscilla Paul
- Lyall Thurston
- Kevin Winters

Okurei Maori Constituency candidates:
- Gina Mohi
- Arapeta Tahana