Tauranga final election results: Mahé Drysdale wins race to be mayor by about 6100 votes

Mahé Drysdale has won the Tauranga mayoralty by a margin of about 6100 votes, final election results released tonight show.

The same nine councillors named in Sunday’s preliminary results have also been confirmed, Tauranga City Council said in a statement.

The final voter turnout rate was 38.7% after all special votes were processed, just behind 2019′s 40.3% and slightly ahead of 2016′s 38.1%.

Two-time Olympic gold-medallist rower Drysdale won 16,606 votes in the single-transferable vote system, ahead of former Tauranga Mayor Greg Brownless on 10,510, singer Ria Hall on 9077 and former deputy mayor Tina Salisbury on 7388.

The council of nine men and one woman would be sworn in on August 2 and serve a four-year term, in a New Zealand first.

The new ward councillors are:

• Mauao/Mount Maunganui: Jen Scoular
• Matua-Otūmoetai: Glen Crowther
• Te Papa: Rod Taylor
• Bethlehem: Kevin Schuler
• Tauriko: Marten Rozeboom
• Welcome Bay: Hautapu Baker
• Arataki: Rick Curach
• Pāpāmoa: Steve Morris
• Te Awanui: Mikaere Sydney.

The election is Tauranga City Council’s first since 2019, and it was the first to include a Māori ward, Te Awanui.

Local Democracy Reporting reported on Monday that successful Te Awanui ward candidate Sydney (Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngāti Ranginui) was undergoing medical treatment in hospital.

Drysdale said he had spoken to Sydney’s whānau and they had asked for privacy as they supported his recovery.

“I look forward to the opportunity to welcome him on to council, once he is able, as the elected representative of Te Awanui, Tauranga City Council’s first Māori ward.”

Drysdale told Local Democracy Reporting over the weekend he was “excited and daunted” about leading New Zealand’s fifth-largest city.

Two-time Olympic rowing gold medallist Mahé Drysdale is set to become the new mayor of Tauranga.

The married father-of-two, who lives in Cambridge and works as a financial adviser, said he was very much looking forward to working with the nine councillors.

“It’s a bit different to normal where in the past when I’ve succeeded that’s the end of a journey, whereas this one, it’s very much the start.

”We’ve got some really good talent.”

The results showed people wanted Tauranga to move forward, Drysdale said.

“I’m excited about starting from a completely clean slate and doing, local government differently where we engage with the community and deliver for them.”

The council will replace the four-person government-appointed commission that has led the city since early 2021.

The 2019 elected council was sacked and replaced with government-appointed commissioners in 2021 after a tumultuous start to the term led to governance concerns.

Then-Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta appointed four commissioners to lead the council: Former National Party minister Anne Tolley as chairwoman with Bill Wasley, Stephen Selwood and Shadrach Rolleston.

None of the commissioners stood in this election, but six members of the 2019 council ran again.

In total, 75 candidates - 15 of those running for mayor - put their hands up.