Defeated mayoral candidate Dr Reynold Macpherson says it was an exceptional effort by his Rotorua District Residents and Ratepayers group to do as well as they did.
Dr Macpherson came second to Steve Chadwick in the Rotorua mayoral race, receiving 5652 votes to Mrs Chadwick's 7880 when the progress results were released today. About 98 per cent of votes have been counted.
Rob Kent, who was previously a member of the group before standing as an independent, was third with 3006.
Dr Macpherson told the
Rotorua Daily Post
today he was pretty relaxed and had accepted the judgement of the public.
He said he was delighted for group members Peter Bentley and Raj Kumar, who both earned places on the Rotorua Lakes Council.
As for the future of the group, he said they would go away and analyse their campaign and understand the mistakes they had made.
He said many of the group's candidates were new to politics and had had to learn quickly.
"In three to four weeks we'll decide how to carry it forward from here."
In the meantime he plans to take a holiday and meet his 9-month-old grandson for the first time.