Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell looks set to be re-elected for a second term. Photo / RNZ
Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell says she has been re-elected to the post.
Progress results have yet to land but Tapsell told the Rotorua Daily Post the news.
Fellow Rotorua mayoral candidate Haehaetu Barrett confirmed Tapsell’s re-election.
“I didn’t make it this time,” she said. “Tania won.”
Voting has closed in Rotorua’s local elections for 2025 and the first results are beginning to land.
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These do not include votes dropped off on Saturday morning or special votes.
Final results are not officially declared until later in October, after all special votes have been counted.
Tapsell previously said she has “unfinished business” from her first term.
The reopening of the Rotorua Museum and delivery of core services top her agenda.
During her first term, Tapsell focused on “restoring confidence” in the city, shrinking emergency housing motel use and supporting tourism recovery.
She framed her re-election run as a continuation of that work, arguing the city now needs to shift from recovery to growth.
Her hallmark pledge is to reopen the museum by 2027 – though an $8 million funding shortfall remains for its exhibition spaces.
She has also committed to keeping rates affordable while prioritising essential infrastructure.
Other goals include improving pensioner housing, reinvigorating hospitality and strengthening public-private partnerships.
Tapsell previously said she’s energised by the prospect of “finishing off what she has started” alongside a strong council team.
Residents have voted for one mayor, six general ward councillors and three Māori ward councillors, while incumbent Karen Barker will be elected unopposed in the rural ward.
Voting also took place for the four-seat Rotorua Rural Community Board, but a byelection is required for the Rotorua Lakes Community Board.
The future of Rotorua’s Māori ward will also be decided by a binding poll alongside the candidate voting.
Five candidates battled it out for Rotorua’s mayoral seat in what was a sometimes dramatic and fractious campaign.
Incumbent Tania Tapsell faced a challenge from two current councillors in Robert Lee and Don Paterson, and from newcomers Haehaetu Barrett and Takeina Fraser.
Tapsell, Lee and Paterson, in particular, have been prominent across campaigning, each appearing at several candidate events.
Tapsell has been openly critical of her rival Lee, admitting she hopes he fails in his leadership tilt and loses his council seat after comments he made at a Rainbow pride candidate event.
Lee has been critical of the council he wishes to lead after it had his campaign video pulled from YouTube over a copyright claim.
Barrett’s campaign has been dogged by ill-health. The former Lifewise chief executive initially pulled out of campaigning as a result, only to return to the running.
Meanwhile, Fraser’s bid started with confusion over her name and included a court appearance for driving while disqualified.
All six current councillors – Sandra Kai Fong, Gregg Brown, Lee, Conan O’Brien, Paterson and Fisher Wang – are hoping for re-election.
A total of 22 candidates put their name in the hat for the general ward, including former mayoral candidate and winter Olympian Ben Sandford, ex-councillor Reynold MacPherson and local mountain biking figure Philly Angus.
One new Māori ward councillor is guaranteed as councillor Lani Kereopa decided not to run again in 2025.
If councillor Trevor Maxwell is re-elected, he will take the outright record of New Zealand’s longest-ever serving councillor.
Karen Barker elected unopposed.
A byelection is required as only three candidates came forward for the four positions.
Two new candidates will be needed as long-standing chairman Phill Thomass, who was seeking re-election, died last month.
A total of 47 candidates put their names forward for the 14 Bay of Plenty Regional Council seats available at this year’s local body elections.
Rotorua constituency voters have 11 options to choose from to fill two vacancies, with three contenders for the one Ōkūrei Māori seat.
Mathew Nash is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based at the Rotorua Daily Post. He has previously written for SunLive, been a regular contributor to RNZ and was a football reporter in the UK for eight years.
– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.