# 2022 Far North mayoral election

The 2022 Far North mayoral election was held to elect the mayor of the Far North District, as part of the 2022 New Zealand local elections. The election took place from 16 September to 8 October and the winner will serve for the 2022–2025 term. Incumbent mayor John Carter did not seek re-election. First term district councillor Moko Tepania won the election, becoming the district's youngest and first Māori mayor.

## Background

The Far North District Council was formed as part of the 1989 New Zealand local government reforms, and since then there had been five mayors. The mayor of the district is directly elected by the eligible voting population of the district. This election would be the first to use the Single Transferable Vote (STV) method as opposed to the previously used first-past-the-post system. The STV system allows voters the option to rank candidates in order of preference. The votes are counted and then the candidate with the lowest first place votes is eliminated and votes for them are transferred based on second preferences. This continues until one candidate has a majority.
Incumbent two-term mayor John Carter decided not to run for re-election. The at-the-time 72 year old retired from a long career in government at both the local and central level.
According to the candidates, issues important to the election included local rates, Three Waters, changes to the Resource Management Act, the economy, council debt, housing, and road infrastructure.

## Candidates
### Declared

* Jaqi Brown, community organiser, descending from Te Rarawa, Te Aupōuri, Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Whatua.
* Ann Court, incumbent deputy mayor
* Clinton Dearlove
* Kevin Middleton
* Joshua Riley, SOVEREIGN.nz candidate
* Kelly Stratford
* Moko Tepania, first term district councillor and te reo Māori teacher at Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Kaikohe.
* John Vujcich
* Rachel Witana

## Results

Ann Court was ahead when the provisional results were released but after special votes were counted Moko Tepania secured the win. Tepania would be the youngest and first Māori mayor in the Far North and following the election would chair a majority Māori council, a first for the district. Kelly Stratford, also Māori, was appointed deputy mayor.
2022 Far North mayoral election :
| Affiliation | Affiliation | Candidate | Votes by iteration | Votes by iteration | Votes by iteration | Votes by iteration | Votes by iteration | Votes by iteration | Votes by iteration | Votes by iteration | % | % | % |
| Affiliation | Affiliation | Candidate | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | of 8th | of Turnout | of Eligible |
| | None | Moko Tepania | | | | | | | | 7805 | 51.46 | 39.78 | 16.52 |
| | None | Ann Court | | | | | | | | 7362 | 48.54 | 37.52 | 15.58 |
| | None | John Vujcich | | | | | | | 4166 | | | | |
| | SOVEREIGN.nz | Joshua Riley | | | | | | 2927 | | | | | |
| | None | Jaqi Brown | | | | | 1865 | | | | | | |
| | Independent | Kelly Stratford | | | | 1616 | | | | | | | |
| | Independent | Kevin Middleton | | | 296 | | | | | | | | |
| | None | Clinton Dearlove | | 276 | | | | | | | | | |
| | Independent | Rachel Witana | 122 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Eligible: 47,240 | Turnout: 19,619 | Valid: 19,344 | Blanks: 173 | Informals: 102 ||||||||||||| |