Local elections 2025: Hauraki District Council has 20 people vying for seats

In the Hauraki district, 20 people have put their names forward for election to the council. Photo / Hauraki District Council

The countdown to the local elections is officially on, with candidate nominations now closed. In the Hauraki district, 20 people have put their names forward.

Three of those candidates are running for mayor: incumbent Toby Adams, Levi Burton and Roman Jackson.

Burton and Jackson are also running for a ward seat.

In the Plains general ward, five people are vying for four seats.

They are Cynthia Bates and Act party candidate Andrew Pickford, as well as current councillors Ray Broad, Stephen Crooymans and Neil Gray.

In the Paeroa general ward, five candidates are competing for three seats: Grant Michael Aitken and Act candidate Michelle Elizabeth Magnus, as well as current councillors Paul Milner, Jo Tilsley and Rino Lee Wilkinson.

Waihī general ward has the most crowded field, with seven contenders for four seats.

They are Levi Burton, Sara Howell, Roman Jackson, former candidate Amanda May Ryan and Stuie Thompson, as well as current councillors Anne Marie Spicer and Austin Rattray.

Meanwhile, Rereahu Collier and Desmond Tyler were elected to the Te Pakikau o te Ika Māori Ward unopposed.

Current councillors Phillip Buckthought, Carole Daley, Sarah Holmes, Josh Martyn and Bhavesh Ranchhod are not seeking re-election.

As well as the mayoral, councillor and Māori Ward polling, the ballot will cover the candidates standing for the Waikato Regional Council.

Voting opens September 9 and closes at noon on October 11.

Progress results will be released mid-afternoon on election day, preliminary results will be available the following day and the final count is expected by October 17.

In the 2022 local election, 40.6% of eligible Hauraki residents voted.