Hamilton's 2nd Congressional District

Hamilton's 2nd Congressional District also known as Fairfield is situated in eastern Hamilton and is represented by National's Damian Ford.

## District Boundaries

**2018-2028:** Chedworth, Fairview Downs, Flagstaff, Gordonton, Huntington, Puketaha, Rototuna, Queenstaff

**2028 - Present:** Chartwell, Fairview Downs, Parkwood, Queenwood

## Electorate Profile

Hamilton's 2nd District originally was based in the wealthy north-east of the city. The region has a older, wealthier population with low deprivation, just 2.8% unemployment and low crime rates. The suburban area was combine with a large rural region covering Gordonton, Horsham Downs and Puketaha. The area is predominantly composed of wealthy, farming families with strong links to Hamilton.

The District was the 17th most National leaning in the country and was comfortably won by National's Patrick Donaldson in 2018. However, a controversial development in central Rototuna supported by National eroded support for the party. By 2022 Donaldson's majority had dropped by over 10% and he was under increasing pressure from the community to advocate against the development.

On February 26th, 2024, TVNZ released an email from Donaldson's Chief of Staff which implied Donaldson supported the development and was frustrated with National leadership who he felt had been inflexible about the issue. The next day, Donaldson resigned from National citing his unhappiness with the parties stance.

This automatically triggered a by-election scheduled for April 20th. Donaldson pledged to contest the election as an independent and on March 27th announced he had successfully collected the 1,060 signatures required to go on the ballot before the April 6th deadline. Labour selected 3 time candidate and local Councillor Nathan Bates who focused his campaign on opposition to the development. National controversially selected farmer Andrew Lincoln-Parkes. Local party officials felt a rural candidate would further put the party at risk in the core suburban areas where they were already losing support. Yet despite the issues, Lincoln-Parkes was still expected to win comfortably.

On election night, Bates captured a record 23.8% swing towards Labour, winning with almost 45% of the vote. The election set records for the largest swing in a single District and the largest difference between winning margin and District PVI. Stuff described it as "unprecedented" while Buzzfeed New Zealand rated it as the 2nd most shocking Congressional election ever in a 2033 list.

Remarkably, in the 2024 General Election later that year, Bates retained his seat on a reduced majority. The electorate set another record for the greater difference between a down ballot candidate and the Prime Ministerial race. Bates retained the seat in the 2026 mid-terms on a 1.2% majority before the District was redrawn and renumbered to the 3rd District in the 2028 redistricting.

The new 2nd District is a swing seat in eastern central Hamilton. 32.3% of the area is Maori with smaller European and Asian communities than the rest of Hamilton and New Zealand as a whole. Much of the area experiences high levels of deprivation with over 65% of the area on a low income compared to 40% across Hamilton.

Labour's Sally Helsey held the District between 2028 and 2032 after being redistricted from the 6th District which she won in 2026. However, her majority was never more than 2.3% and she lost to Damian Ford in the 2034 by 3.8%. Ford increased his majority in the 2036 election, running substantially ahead of Stephanie Kennedy in the Prime Minister's race.

## Representatives

Re-elected 2020, 2022
 Nathan Bates
Re-elected 2026
 Sally Helsey
Re-elected 2030, 2032
Defeated for re-election
 Damian Ford
Re-elected 2036

## Electoral History

 **Labour** | **Sally Helsey (inc.)** | 5,476
 National
 Other Candidates
 Majority
 Labour **win** | Swing

 **National** | **Patrick Donaldson** | 5,028
 Labour
 Other Candidates
 Majority