2019 Auckland mayoral election


The 2019 Auckland mayoral election was held on 12 October 2019 to determine who would serve as Mayor of Auckland for the next three years. Nominations opened on 19 July 2019 and closed on 16 August 2019. Incumbent Mayor Phil Goff won the election with 48% of the vote to secure a second term.

Background

was the incumbent mayor of Auckland. Goff became mayor at the 2016 election in which the previous mayor, Len Brown, did not stand. Goff announced in March 2019 that he would stand again.
The election was conducted by postal vote, and used the first past the post vote system.

Key dates

Key dates for the election were:
The 21 candidates for the mayoralty were:
NameAffiliationNotes
Tricia CheelSTOP Trashing our PlanetCheel had previously run for mayor, and had stood for Parliament for the Ban 1080 Party and the Democrats for Social Credit. She has opposed fluoride, vaccinations, glyphosate, and 1080 drops.
Michael CooteIndependent
David John FeistLiftNZ
Genevieve FordenoneForde's main issues were addressing climate change and regenerating nature.
Phil GoffIndependentThe incumbent mayor, in the role since 2016. Goff was a Labour Party Member of Parliament 1981–1990 and 1993–2016, and was leader of the party for three years. He resigned as an MP after being elected as mayor and ran as an independent in this election.
Alezix Henetinone
Jannaha HenrynoneA 21-year old candidate.
John HongIndependentAlso known as Hong Cheng Chen, he immigrated from China in 2003 and ran for mayor for the first time. A right-wing candidate, he had previously worked for Panuku Development Auckland, and was the chair of the New Zealand promotion committee for China's Belt and Road Initiative and a government relations adviser for the Chao San General Association of New Zealand.
Ted JohnstonnoneA 59-year-old criminal barrister from South Auckland and former parliamentary candidate for The Opportunities Party. Policies included helping the poor and disadvantaged, stopping "secret meetings", protecting parks and the environment and building fast rail.
Susanna KrugerJustice for Families
Craig LordIndependentA media operator, this was Lord's first time standing in an election. Lord stated that he had no policies and that he considered the mayor to be a 'token' job, given the role of the 20 other councillors.
Brendan Bruce MaddernIndependent
Thanh Binh NguyenIndependent
Phil O'ConnorChristians Against Abortion
Tom SainsburyIndependentA comedian running under an alter-ego of Fiona. Fiona claimed in a video that running for mayor was a mistake she made when drunk.
Glen SnelgarOld SkoolA right-wing candidate who sought to remove fuel taxes and lower rates.
Tadhg Tim StopfordThe Hemp FoundationStopford is the founder of The Hemp Foundation, which seeks to promote cannabinoids for medicine and industrial uses.
John TamihereJT for MayorTamihere was a Labour Party Member of Parliament from 1999 to 2005, and held Cabinet positions. He was not affiliated with Labour in this election.
Peter VaughannoneA numerologist, Vaughan stated that pollution is the biggest issue facing Auckland, particularly landfills.
Annalucia VermuntCommunist League
Wayne YoungVirtual Homeless Community

Prospective candidates who did not stand

The following people indicated they might, or would, run for mayor in this election, but ultimately did not.
The campaign included a number of debates. One debate between Goff, Tamihere, Lord, and Henry discussed issues such as infrastructure, public transport, climate change, parking, and inequality, among other topics. The last debate was on 1 October. Candidate Phil Goff compared the campaign to the previous one saying: "It's a lot different from last time, we had a lot of meetings last time, it's been a more aggressive campaign from his side."
Candidate John Tamihere faced controversy for using the term "Sieg Heil" during a debate. After Goff stated "We won't put up with the sort of nonsense that we get from racists coming into this country to tell us that multiculturalism doesn't work," Tamihere responded, "I say sieg heil to that." After the debate, Tamihere initially denied using the term, then stated his comments were a criticism of Goff's actions around a decision to bar controversial Canadian speakers Stefan Molyneux and Lauren Southern from using an Auckland Council venue in 2018, calling Goff "a dictator".
Tamihere made a complaint over three social media posts posted by Phil Goff, but the complaints were rejected by the Advertising Standards Authority.
Some voting booklets contained two incorrect photographs, including showing mayoral candidate Tricia Cheel as a man.

Endorsements

;Phil Goff
;John Tamihere

By local board

Local board subdivisions won by Goff
Local board subdivision won by Lord

Source:

Turnout

Turnout was expected to be lower than in previous elections. Initial counts, while voting was still open, showed turnout to be lower compared with the same time in the 2016 election. The final turnout for Auckland was predicted to be around 35%.