Q&A: Auckland mayoral race - your questions answered

Twenty-two candidates are officially in the running to be mayor of Auckland. Photo / Doug Sherring

It'd be fair to say the 2022 contest for the Auckland mayoralty hasn't been scintillating so far.

As political drama goes, egg-throwing at a public debate and a bit of light sniping about "appropriate behaviour" is pretty tame.

That all changed on Friday, though, when high-profile "hospo legend" Leo Molloy pulled out of the race because, he said, he couldn't win and he wanted to make way for other right-of-centre candidates.

Now former Auckland City mayor John Banks has added his two cents' worth, urging former Heart of the City boss Viv Beck to step aside for the same reason.

In short, things are getting interesting. With less that two months until election day, here's where we're at:

Who's in the running for mayor?

As of midday Friday, when nominations closed, there were 22 mayoral candidates. You can find the full list here.

How important is this?

This is the fifth election since the Super City was formed in 2010 and the first in which there are not big-name established politicians running for mayor. Auckland's new mayor will therefore be very different from their predecessors, Phil Goff and Len Brown.

On top of that, council and the city face crises on several fronts. The Covid pandemic has put great pressure on council finances and on the entire social fabric and community resilience of the city.

Climate change is making big new demands on spending: we have to lower emissions and manage the damage caused by floods and other climate-related impacts.

There is a decades-deep infrastructure deficit and many people feel council's democratic processes are not working well either. Is public consultation as it should be? Are the "council-controlled organisations", especially Auckland Transport, well controlled?

Who's looking good in the polls?

Right now - after Leo Molloy's surprise exit - three candidates have a clear advantage in the polls. There's not a whole lot between them, though.

Efeso Collins, a two-term Manukau councillor, appears to be the front-runner. Labour and the Greens have endorsed Collins, whose flagship policy is fares-free public transport. A Ratepayers' Alliance Curia poll has Collins on 22.3 per cent. Should he win, Collins would be Auckland's first Pasifika mayor.

Businessman and two-term mayor of the Far North District Council, Wayne Brown, is promising to "Fix Auckland" and get Ports of Auckland to stump up $400 million a year in dividends and rates. In that Ratepayers/Curia poll he gained 18.6 per cent support.

Viv Beck, who was previously Heart of the City chief executive, has the endorsement of the National Party-aligned Communities and Residents (C&R) group. She opposes the light rail plan, wants more money spent on better bus services, and says she'd take a tough line on crime. The poll has Beck on 13 per cent support.

Three other candidates have been active on the hustings but are not showing strongly in the polls. Craig Lord is a freelance media operator who came third in the 2019 Auckland mayoral race. Ted Johnston is a lawyer from South Auckland, co-leader of the New Conservative Party and the self-styled "other Samoan in the race". Gary Brown is chair of the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board.

Are the polls showing a trend?

The Ratepayers/Curia poll has been conducted monthly and has consistently had Efeso Collins in front, although never by much. Candidates who've commissioned their own polls say they've found the same. Wayne Brown seems to be steadily rising, while Viv Beck's results are a little more uncertain.

When does the vote happen - and how?

Election day is October 8 - voting closes at midday. Elections are held every three years by postal vote. If you're already enrolled, you'll get a voting information pack in the mail from September 16 to September 21.

You're automatically enrolled to vote in the local body elections if you're an Auckland resident and are already on the parliamentary electoral roll for the general election. You can check your details at www.elections.org.nz/enrol or by calling 0800 36 76 56.

Preliminary results will be available on October 9 and the official result will be announced on October 14.

How much does it cost to run a mayoral campaign? Who pays?

Fundraising among potential supporters is a traditional component of mayoral electioneering, but the spotlight is shining bright on political donations these days. It's most unlikely any candidate will raise a sum comparable to outgoing mayor Phil Goff's war chest of several hundred thousand dollars.

Wayne Brown, however, is a very wealthy businessman and has talked about spending half a million dollars of his own money. Collins and Beck are most unlikely to be able to spend anything like that much.

On the other hand, in 2016 Chloe Swarbrick spent less than $5000 on her campaign to be mayor, and she came third with 29,000 votes.

How much power does the Mayor of Auckland actually have?

A lot and not much. The Auckland mayor does not command a "whipped" caucus, as the PM does in Government. That's unlikely to change this time, as none of the current candidates is standing on a ticket. Parties and alliances are still represented – National and Labour both have several members on the current council – but they don't vote as reliable blocs.

The setup means the mayor has to win support issue by issue. The result, when it works, is a collegial council with a cross-party sense of working together. There is also a small group of perpetually opposed councillors who are not part of that collegiality.

The mayor's office writes the budget and leads the programme. If they're good at winning allegiance, that gives them a lot of power.

But while technically the council has authority over the "council-controlled organisations", it has been difficult for the mayor and council to make that work in practice.

And the mayor and council do not control the really big issues, most notably major transport spending, because that's the preserve of the Government in Wellington.

Do we know what issues are most important to Aucklanders?

Transport tops everyone's list, although there's a range of views about what should happen. Inner-city crime is a concern for many and the relative lack of resources in the south and west is a concern for many others. Viv Beck talks a lot about "accountability", Efeso Collins leans towards climate action and equity, while Wayne Brown believes the key task is to fix infrastructure planning and construction.

The recent public consultation on whether there should be a targeted rate to address climate change produced the largest-ever response, with a two-third majority saying yes. That's a remarkable outcome.

Interestingly, rates are probably not a big issue in Auckland. Even the Ratepayers' Alliance believes rates should rise with inflation, which is, on the whole, what is happening.

How many people usually vote? Is there an average voter profile?

In 2019, 369,190 (34.7 per cent) of 1,063,735 registered electors voted in Auckland's local body elections. That was down from 38 per cent in 2016.

A report published by Auckland Council after the 2019 election found age was strongly related to whether someone voted or not.

"Turnout was lowest for 26-30 year olds (only 20 per cent of eligible electors in this age group voted) but increased with age, reaching a high of 61 per cent amongst 76-80 year olds," the report said.

Aucklanders of Māori descent were less likely to vote, with an 11 percentage point difference in turnout between voters who indicated Māori descent and those who didn't (25 per cent versus 36 per cent).

Voter turnout was lower in southern areas of Auckland, as well as in pockets of west Auckland, the Glen Innes area on the Auckland isthmus and the Glenfield area on the North Shore. Rural and coastal areas tended to have higher turnout than other parts of Auckland.

What else are Aucklanders voting for on October 8?

Quite a lot. As well as mayor, Aucklanders can vote for 20 councillors to represent the 13 Auckland wards. Then there's representatives for Auckland's 21 local boards - between five and nine members for each (relax - you only have to worry about your own zone).

Every position is being contested, most of them by many candidates. This is a first for Auckland, where there have usually been a few positions uncontested, and it's unusual in the whole country too, where several mayoralties have only one candidate, or none at all.

* Got a question we haven't covered? Senior writer and Auckland expert Simon Wilson will join the chat from about 9.30am.

• Thanks for your questions and comments - submissions are now closed.