Today may bring further clarity in the neck-and-neck jostling for mayoralty as Saturday\u2019s votes enter the mix.<\/p>\n
Special votes still need to be counted, meaning the final results are not yet known. The final count is expected this Friday.<\/p>\n
Vince Cocurullo hopes to be re-elected as Whang\u0101rei Mayor. Photo \/ Susan Botting<\/p>\n
At last count, the battle for Whang\u0101rei Mayor had Cocurullo on 9841 votes with seasoned district councillor Couper close behind on 9774.<\/p>\n
Fellow candidate Marie Olsen was in the middle of the pack with 6937 votes. Then came Brad Flower and Fiona Green, whose tallies were too low to keep them in the race.<\/p>\n
Mayoral candidate Ken Couper’s voter tally has kept him in the running. <\/p>\n
However, Flower\u2019s votes landed him as second-favourite for the Whang\u0101rei Urban General Ward \u2013 again behind Olsen.<\/p>\n
The largest of Whang\u0101rei\u2019s wards has five vacancies which, based on the progressive results, would see Paul Yovich, Nicholas Connop and Crichton Christie fill the remaining three seats.<\/p>\n
Missing are familiar faces Jayne Golightly and Carol Peters.<\/p>\n
At this stage, the other successful ward councillors were Ken Couper and Matthew Yovich (Bream Bay General Ward); Scott McKenzie and Stephen Martin (Hikurangi-Coastal General Ward); Simon Reid (Mangakahia-Maungatapere General Ward); Deb Harding and Phoenix Ruka (Mangakahia-Maungatapere General Ward), and Tangiwai Baker (Whang\u0101rei Heads General Ward).<\/p>\n
In Kaipara, experienced businessman and iwi leader Snow Tane\u2019s 2482 votes are hot on the heels of current Deputy Mayor Jonathan Larsen\u2019s 2534.<\/p>\n
Jason Smith, who is looking to return to the role he held until 2022, was a mere 22 votes from knocking Tane out of second position.<\/p>\n
Ash Nayyar was yet to cross the 1000 threshold with 982 votes in his favour.<\/p>\n
Jonathan Larsen is the current front-runner for Kaipara Mayor. <\/p>\n
Outgoing Mayor Craig Jepson, who opted not to re-seek the title, appears to have successfully campaigned for the Kaiwaka-Mangawhai Ward \u2013 although he will not be the ward\u2019s front-runner, a title that currently belongs to Rachael Williams.<\/p>\n
The line-up of ward councillors appears as: Snow Tane, Joesephine Nathan and Jan Beatty (Wairoa Ward); Rachael Williams, Craig Jepson and Luke Canton (Kaiwaka-Mangawhai Ward) and Mike Schimanski and Mark Vincent (\u014ctamatea Ward).<\/p>\n
While the final count is days away, yesterday\u2019s results confirmed Tepania would retain his role as Far North Mayor.<\/p>\n
This year, Tepania is more than 3600 votes clear of Court, with Sovereign\u2019s Joshua Riley a distant third.<\/p>\n
Results showed a mixed bag for Far North District councillors, with six incumbents retaining their seats and four newcomers joining the table.<\/p>\n
Court retained her seat in the Bay of Islands-Whangaroa General Ward, while newcomer Davina Smolders took the second spot.<\/p>\n
Incumbent Deputy Mayor Kelly Stratford took the third and final seat and incumbent Steve McNally was voted out.<\/p>\n
The Kaikohe-Hokianga General Ward was retained by John Vujcich, who will serve his fifth term.<\/p>\n
In the Ng\u0101 Tai o Tokerau M\u0101ori Ward, incumbents Hilda Halkyard-Harawira and T\u0101mati R\u0101kena have been provisionally re-elected, alongside newcomers Chicky Rudkin and Arohanui Allen.<\/p>\n
This means incumbents Penetaui Kleskovic and Babe Kapa miss out on re-election.<\/p>\n