(listen to Aaron and Craig’s Election round up analysis below:) With the incumbent Mayor standing down and last year’s democracy review reshaping some of our ward boundaries, the Waikato District Council was due for quite a shake up at these local elections. And changes have been delivered, with election results across the Waikato showing a new mayor and nine new councillors for the district council with half the six councillors who sought re-election ousted.
Jacqui Church is currently leading the mayoral race with 7201 votes ahead of Aksel Bech who is sitting on 6298 votes. While we wait on special votes to be counted, it may not be enough for Bech to close the 903 vote gap. If Jacqui wins, she will be the first woman mayor for the Waikato District Council, which has three previous mayors, all of them being men from farming backgrounds.
Along with a woman mayor, Waikato District Council has five wāhine Māori leading in their respective councillor positions including, Lisa Thomson, Tutata Matatahi-Poutapu, Tilly Turner, Kandi Ngataki and Marlene Raumati.
(listen to Aaron and Craig’s Waikato District Council analysis below:) Election results were a bit of a mixed bag across the district but there were some clear-cut victories, including votes for the Whāingaroa General Ward Councillor position overwhelmingly being in favour of Lisa Thomson, with a margin of 911 votes between Lisa and Ra Puriri.
Over on the Raglan Community Board, provisional results show five of the returning members voted in, including Satnam Bains (877 votes), Kiri Binnersley (865 votes), Dennis Amoore (819 votes), Tony Oosten (789 votes) and Chris Rayner (818 votes). Taking the lead and the sixth seat is new board member and long standing local, Ross Wallis, who leads the race with 915 votes.
In past elections, special votes have changed the makeup of the Raglan Community Board depending on how close the voting is but the gap between 6th and 7th place looks too big to close this time.
While Jacqui Church won the Tuakau-Pōkeno General Ward, her election to Mayor means that the next two highest polling candidates will win seats on the council. These two candidates are Vern Reeve with 1336 votes and Kandi Ngataki with 615 votes.
In the Awaroa-Maramarua ward, also with one vacancy, 65-year-old farmer Peter Thomson is leading ahead of incumbent Stephanie Henderson by 101 votes.
In Huntly ward, with one vacancy, the front-runner is permaculturist David Whyte leading ahead of the incumbent, Shelley Lynch, by 225 votes. In Newcastle-Ngāruawāhia (with two vacancies) the leaders are incumbents Janet Gibb and Eugene Patterson with significant margins ahead of the other candidates In the Tai Raro Takiwā Māori Ward with one vacancy, the leader is Tutata Matatahi-Poutapu, while Tilly Turner leads in the Tai Runga Takiwā Māori ward.
In the two-vacancy Tamahere-Woodlands general ward the two frontrunners are Mike Keir and Crystal Beavis. With one vacancy in Waerenga-Whitikahu, Marlene Raumati is well ahead, Waikato Regional Council (listen to Aaron and Craig’s Waikato Regional Council analysis below:) Election results appear to indicate an overwhelming vote against the status quo as well as an aversion towards names that were tied to controversies over the past triennium with eight new councillors leading in their respective seats.
The Waikato Regional council chair during the end of the last triennium, Barry Quayle, polled lowest among the four contenders and failed to win a seat in the Waipā constituency, with incumbent Stu Kneebone and anti-Three Waters candidate with a colourful past, Clyde Graf, scoring highest to provisionally take the two vacancies.
Graf, along with a number of other councillors, have won their seat on the Waikato Regional Council off the back of anti-Three Waters sentiments and criticisms around the water reforms coming through central government.
Former chairperson Russ Rimmington has lost his Hamilton seat on the regional council, polling fifth with 10,953 votes, according to the provisional figures. An often controversial figure, Rimmington is unlikely to get the votes needed once the special votes have been counted to be re-elected to the Waikato Regional Council.
The four successful candidates for the regional council in Hamilton were public transport advocate Angela Strange (15,263), environmental scientist Bruce Clarkson (12,521), Climate Change Committee Chair Jennifer Nickel (11,712) and anti-Three Waters candidate Chris Hughes (11,527).
Meanwhile, in the Waikato seat with two vacancies, former district councillor Noel Smith and incumbent Pamela Storey are leading, with both having more than 6000 votes, well ahead of sitting councillor Fred Lichtwark, who has frequently clashed with Rimmington over the most recent term.
In Thames-Coromandel, incumbent environmentalist Denis Tegg looks set to be ousted by newcomer Warren Maher, president of the Tairua Pauanui Sports Fishing Club.
The Thames-Coromandel election has seen some controversy with Tegg accusing Maher of running his campaign on false claims that the Waikato Regional Council plans to close large areas of the Coromandel coast to recreational fishing. Tegg’s accusations have led to Maher recently retracting his false claims about the council saying, “They (the council) haven’t stated it.” In Taupō-Rotorua, the successful regional council candidate is previous Taupō district councillor Mich’eal Downard with 5089 votes In Waihou, Ben Dunbar-Smith (supporter of clean water and Taumata Arowai but against Three Waters), and 4th generation Waikato farmer Robert Cookson are leading.
Tipa Mahuta and Kataraina Hodge were elected unopposed in the council’s two Māori constituencies.
The final election results will be declared on Thursday, October 13. Provisional results can be viewed here for the Waikato District Council and here for the Waikato Regional Council . https://raglanradio.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/1665286876944.jpeg