2022 Far North mayoral election

2022 Far North mayoral election
Turnout	19,619 (41.53%)
Mayor before election; John Carter; Independent	Elected mayor ; Moko Tepania; Independent

The 2022 Far North mayoral election was held to elect the mayor of the Far North District, as part of the 2022 New Zealand local elections. The election took place from 16 September to 8 October and the winner will serve for the 2022–2025 term. Incumbent mayor John Carter did not seek re-election. First term district councillor Moko Tepania won the election, becoming the district's youngest and first Māori mayor.

Background

The Far North District Council was formed as part of the 1989 New Zealand local government reforms, and since then there had been five mayors. The mayor of the district is directly elected by the eligible voting population of the district. This election would be the first to use the Single Transferable Vote (STV) method as opposed to the previously used first-past-the-post system.^[1] The STV system allows voters the option to rank candidates in order of preference. The votes are counted and then the candidate with the lowest first place votes is eliminated and votes for them are transferred based on second preferences. This continues until one candidate has a majority.

Incumbent two-term mayor John Carter decided not to run for re-election. The at-the-time 72 year old retired from a long career in government at both the local and central level.^[2]

According to the candidates, issues important to the election included local rates, Three Waters, changes to the Resource Management Act, the economy, council debt, housing, and road infrastructure.^[3]

Candidates

Declared

Jaqi Brown, community organiser, descending from Te Rarawa, Te Aupōuri, Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Whatua.^[4]
Ann Court, incumbent deputy mayor
Clinton Dearlove
Kevin Middleton
Joshua Riley, SOVEREIGN.nz candidate
Kelly Stratford
Moko Tepania, first term district councillor and te reo Māori teacher at Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Kaikohe.^[5]
John Vujcich
Rachel Witana

Results

Ann Court was ahead when the provisional results were released but after special votes were counted Moko Tepania secured the win. Tepania would be the youngest and first Māori mayor in the Far North and following the election would chair a majority Māori council, a first for the district.^[6] Kelly Stratford, also Māori, was appointed deputy mayor.^[7]^[8]

2022 Far North mayoral election^[9]
Affiliation		Candidate	Votes by iteration								%
Affiliation		Candidate	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	of 8th	of Turnout	of Eligible
	None	Moko Tepania								7805	51.46	39.78	16.52
	None	Ann Court								7362	48.54	37.52	15.58
	None	John Vujcich							4166
	SOVEREIGN.nz	Joshua Riley						2927
	None	Jaqi Brown					1865
	Independent	Kelly Stratford				1616
	Independent	Kevin Middleton			296
	None	Clinton Dearlove		276
	Independent	Rachel Witana	122
Eligible: 47,240 \| Turnout: 19,619 \| Valid: 19,344 \| Blanks: 173 \| Informals: 102

References

^ "Far North District Council to use Single Transferable Vote system". The Northern Advocate - NZHerald. 19 August 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
^ Botting, Susan (7 September 2022). "Far North Mayor John Carter ends half-century-plus New Zealand government career". Radio New Zealand. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
^ Botting, Susan (17 September 2022). "Local Body Elections: Far North mayoral candidates explain what the three main issues are for their district". The Northern Advocate - NZHerald. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
^ "Jaqi Brown in bid to become next Far North Mayor". Northland Age - NZHerald. 21 July 2022. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
^ Cooper, Karina; de Graaf, Peter; Botting, Susan (8 October 2022). "Local body elections 2022: Preliminary results shake up mayoral race in Far North". The Northern Advocate - NZHerald. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
^ "Far North officially elects its first Māori mayor". Radio New Zealand. 15 October 2022. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
^ de Graaf, Peter (17 October 2022). "Kelly Stratford named Far North's new deputy mayor". The Northern Advocate - NZHerald. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
^ Jensen, Myjanne (18 October 2022). "'Moko the Mayor' - Far North welcomes its youngest and first-ever Māori mayor". The Northland Age - NZHerald. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
^ "LGE 2022 - Final" (PDF). Far North District Council. 14 October 2022. Retrieved 23 July 2024.

[1] "Far North District Council to use Single Transferable Vote system". The Northern Advocate - NZHerald. 19 August 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2024.

[2] Botting, Susan (7 September 2022). "Far North Mayor John Carter ends half-century-plus New Zealand government career". Radio New Zealand. Retrieved 23 July 2024.

[3] Botting, Susan (17 September 2022). "Local Body Elections: Far North mayoral candidates explain what the three main issues are for their district". The Northern Advocate - NZHerald. Retrieved 23 July 2024.

[4] "Jaqi Brown in bid to become next Far North Mayor". Northland Age - NZHerald. 21 July 2022. Retrieved 23 July 2024.

[5] Cooper, Karina; de Graaf, Peter; Botting, Susan (8 October 2022). "Local body elections 2022: Preliminary results shake up mayoral race in Far North". The Northern Advocate - NZHerald. Retrieved 23 July 2024.

[6] "Far North officially elects its first Māori mayor". Radio New Zealand. 15 October 2022. Retrieved 23 July 2024.

[7] Graaf, Peter (17 October 2022). "Kelly Stratford named Far North's new deputy mayor". The Northern Advocate - NZHerald. Retrieved 23 July 2024.

[8] Jensen, Myjanne (18 October 2022). "'Moko the Mayor' - Far North welcomes its youngest and first-ever Māori mayor". The Northland Age - NZHerald. Retrieved 23 July 2024.

[9] "LGE 2022 - Final" (PDF). Far North District Council. 14 October 2022. Retrieved 23 July 2024.

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