Hamilton mayoral election, 2013

Hamilton mayoral election, 2013

12 October 2013

Candidate Julie Hardaker Ewan Wilson Party Independent Independent Popular vote 15,737 12,826 Percentage 43.6 35.5

Mayor before election Julie Hardaker Elected Mayor Julie Hardaker

The 2013 Hamilton mayoral election was part of the Hamilton and wider New Zealand local elections. On 12 October 2013, elections were held for the Mayor of Hamilton and other local government roles. The incumbent, Julie Hardaker, ran against seven other candidates and was re-elected with 43.6% of the vote, a 2,911-vote majority over Ewan Wilson who won 35.5%.

Candidates

Eight candidates stood for election:^[1]

• Chatha Arshad
• Tony Dixon
• Jack Gielen (The Sovereignty Party)
• Ian Hanley
• Julie Hardaker
• Dave Macpherson
• Tim Wikiriwhi (Affordable Waikato)
• Ewan Wilson

Campaign

All of the mayoral candidates except Wikiriwhi took part in a debate held at the Waikato Institute of Technology and chaired by Waikato Times editor Jonathan MacKenzie on 10 September 2013.^[2] According to Waikato Times editor Daniel Adams, about 200 people attended the debate, and the main issues were water metering and water fluoridation.^[3] The Waikato Chamber of Commerce and the Hamilton branch of the Property Council of New Zealand hosted a debate between Hardaker, Wilson and Macpherson on 17 September. The debate was chaired by the Property Council's vice-president Graham Dwyer and was attended by over 100 businesspeople, according to Kashka Tunstall of the Waikato Times.^[4]

Opinion polls

A Waikato Times opinion poll completed on 26 August 2013 had Hardaker at 20% support, Wilson 10% and Macpherson 6%, with 49% of voters undecided.^[5] A second poll by the Waikato Times, completed on 24 September 2013 showed Hardaker steady at 20% and Wilson and Macpherson moving up to 18% and 8%, respectively.^[6] On 28 September, the day that the Waikato Times' second poll was published, Macpherson withdrew from the race and asked his supporters to back Wilson.^[7]

Results

Hamilton mayoral election, 2013^[8][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	None	Julie Hardaker	15,737	43.61	+2.79
	Independent	Ewan Wilson	12,826	35.55	—
	Independent	Dave Macpherson	2,963	8.21	—
	None	Tony Dixon	1,564	4.33	—
	Affordable Waikato	Tim Wikiriwhi	954	2.64	—
	Independent	Ian Hanley	876	2.43	—
	None	Arshad Chatha	743	2.06	—
	Sovereignty	Jack Gielen	419	1.16	-0.13
Majority			2,911	8.07	+5.21
Total valid votes			36,082	99.65
Informal votes			128	0.35
Turnout			36,210	37.23
Registered electors			97,259

Note that blank votes are not included. Swing is compared to 2010 results.^[10]

References

1. "Mayoral Candidates". Hamilton City Council. 28 August 2013. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013.
2. "Gallery: Race for mayor 2013". Waikato Times. Fairfax New Zealand. 10 September 2013. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013.
3. Adams, Daniel (10 September 2013). "Hamilton mayoral candidates' debate turns on water". Waikato Times. Fairfax New Zealand. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013.
4. Tunstall, Kashka (18 September 2013). "Mayoral hopefuls pasted by business sector". Waikato Times. Fairfax New Zealand. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013.
5. "Julie Hardaker leads Hamilton City mayoral race". Waikato Times. Fairfax New Zealand. 3 September 2013. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013.
6. Adams, Daniel (28 September 2013). "Can Ewan Wilson topple Mayor Hardaker?". Waikato Times. Fairfax New Zealand. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013.
7. "Dave Mac out of mayoral race". Waikato Times. Fairfax New Zealand. 28 September 2013. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013.
8. "Voting statistics". Hamilton City Council. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
9. "Hamilton City Council – Final Result" (PDF). Hamilton City Council. 17 October 2013. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 January 2015.
10. "Final results of Hamilton City Council election declared". Hamilton City Council. 15 October 2010. Archived from the original on 16 April 2015.