Kaipara District Council - war of the wards

 

Thirty candidates are contesting the mayoralty and eight council seats. In response to requests from LETTERBOX readers, Democracy Northland has reviewed the campaign material of the candidates and identified those we believe will advance the democratic values that are important to a healthy democracy. The candidates who we believe will respect and represent the interests of the community are:

Kaipara District Council - mayoralty race

Four candidates are running for the Kaipara mayoralty. Jonathan Larsen has been on the council for 11 years, the last 3 as the deputy mayor. He is endorsed by the current mayor, Craig Jepson who has opted to stand for the Kaipara-Mangawhai ward.

His main competition is likely to come from Jason Smith, a former mayor who resigned in 2022 to pursue a career in central government politics. He was unsuccessful, so he has opted to step-back into the mayoral role.

The other contenders are councillor Ash Nayyar, and Snow Tane, a prominent iwi leader.