2013 Dunedin mayoral election

The 2013 Dunedin mayoral election was held on Saturday, 12 October 2013 and was conducted under the single transferable voting system. Dave Cull, Dunedin's 57th mayor, was re-elected after seeing off eight challengers.

2013 Dunedin mayoral election

12 October 2013

Candidate Dave Cull Hilary Calvert Lee Vandervis Party Greater Dunedin Independent Independent Popular vote 18,604 6,474 5,872 Percentage 50.4 17.6 16.0

Mayor before election Dave Cull Elected Mayor Dave Cull

Candidates

First-term incumbent Dave Cull was the first to enter the contest, announcing his candidature in January 2013.[1] He faced eight challengers, including one sitting councillor and one former Member of Parliament.[2]

Councillor Lee Vandervis, who placed third in the previous local body elections,[3] announced on 21 May that he would contest his fourth mayoralty; he had stood in every mayoral election since 2004.[4] Aside from Cull, Vandervis was the only current councillor seeking the mayoralty.

For the first time, the Green Party stood a candidate for the Dunedin mayoralty. Although former mayor Sukhi Turner was a member of the Green Party, she did not run for mayor on the party ticket.[5] Broadcaster Aaron Hawkins was confirmed by the Green Party on 24 May as their candidate.[6] Hawkins contested the 2010 mayoralty as an independent, when he came fourth.[3]

Former ACT Member of Parliament Hilary Calvert declared her candidacy, as an independent.[7] She also contested a seat on the City Council. Former United Future candidate and blogger Pete George also declared an independent bid for the mayoralty.[2]

The other mayoral candidates were two 2010 mayoral hopefuls Olivier Lequeux and Kevin Dwyer, as well as Steve McGregor and Andrew Whiley.

Results

Cull was re-elected, beating Calvert and Vandervis to second and third place.[8] Both Calvert and Vandervis were elected to Council, as were fourth-placed Aaron Hawkins and fifth-placed Andrew Whiley.[9][10]

Candidate	Affiliation	First Preference			Last Iteration
		Votes	%	+/-	Votes	%
Dave Cull	Greater Dunedin	18,335	49.3	+0.7	18,604	50.4
Hilary Calvert		6,191	16.7		6,474	17.6
Lee Vandervis		5,653	15.2	+2.0	5,872	16.0
Aaron Hawkins	Green Dunedin	2,787	7.5	+4.1	2,972	8.1
Andrew Whiley	Independent	2,674	7.2		2,962	8.0
Pete George	Your Dunedin	704	1.9
Olivier Lequeux		487	1.3	-1.3
Kevin Dwyer		206	0.6	+0.2
Steve McGregor		179	0.5
Informal votes		89[11]
Turnout		37,216

See also

• 2013 New Zealand local elections
• 2016 Dunedin mayoral election

References

1. Morris, Chris (5 January 2013). "Councillors reveal election year priorities". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
2. "Race for public office begins". Otago Daily Times. 17 August 2013. Retrieved 31 August 2013.
3. "Dunedin City Council : 2010 Triennial Elections" (PDF). Dunedin City Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
4. Morris, Chris (22 May 2013). "Mayoral contest heats up". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
5. Miller, Tim (19 May 2013). "Greens to announce mayoral candidate". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
6. Morris, Chris (25 May 2013). "Aaron Hawkins Greens mayoral candidate". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
7. Morris, Chris (19 July 2013). "Calvert confirms bid for mayoralty". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 31 August 2013.
8. "Dunedin City Council Results". Dunedin City Council. 12 October 2013. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
9. "Dunedin City Council : 2013 Triennial Elections" (PDF). Dunedin City Council. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
10. Morris, Chris (18 October 2013). "Finally tally increases mayor's vote margin". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
11. "Declaration of Result" (PDF). Dunedin City Council. Retrieved 19 October 2013.