2019 Invercargill mayoral election

The 2019 Invercargill mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections that were held on 12 October 2019 to elect the Mayor of Invercargill. Incumbent mayor Tim Shadbolt was re-elected to his ninth term with a reduced majority.

2019 Invercargill mayoral election

← 2016 12 October 2019 2022 →
Turnout	20,022 (53.01%)
Candidate Tim Shadbolt Darren Ludlow Rebecca Amundsen Party Independent Independent Independent Popular vote 9,672 6,425 3,302 Percentage 48.30 32.08 16.49
Mayor before election Tim Shadbolt Elected mayor Tim Shadbolt

Key dates

Key dates for the election were:^[1]

• 1 July: Electoral Commission enrolment campaign starts.
• 19 July: Nominations open for candidates. Rolls open for inspection.
• 16 August: Nominations close at noon. Rolls close.
• 21 August: Election date and candidates' names announced.
• 20 to 25 September: Voting documents delivered to households. Electors can post the documents back to electoral officers as soon as they have voted.
• 12 October: Polling day. Voting documents must be at the council before voting closes at noon. Preliminary results will be available as soon as all ordinary votes are counted.
• 17 to 23 October: Official results, including all valid ordinary and special votes, declared.

Candidates

Declared candidates

• Rebecca Amundsen, incumbent Deputy Mayor of Invercargill^[2]
• Steve Chernishov,^[3] candidate for city council in 2016
• Darren Ludlow, Invercargill City Councillor and former Deputy Mayor of Invercargill^[4]
• Tim Shadbolt, incumbent Mayor of Invercargill^[5]

Rejected candidates

• Ria Bond, former New Zealand First list MP^[3][6]

Withdrawn candidates

• Toni Biddle, Invercargill City Councillor^[7][8]

Declined to be candidates

• Paddy O'Brien, ILT board member and former international rugby union referee^[9]

Results

The following table gives the election results:^[10]

2019 Invercargill mayoral election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Tim Shadbolt	9,672	48.30	−7.19
	Independent	Darren Ludlow	6,425	32.08
	Independent	Becs Amundsen	3,302	16.49
	Independent	Steve Chernishov	623	3.11
Majority			3,427	16.22	−10.05
Turnout			20,022	53.01	−1.89

References

1. "Race for the mayoralty: What you need to know". Radio NZ. 4 March 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
2. "Shadbolt fires up at news his deputy will run for mayoralty". 12 March 2019.
3. "Bond misses out but Shadbolt confirms nomination for Invercargill mayoralty". 16 August 2019.
4. "Councillor Darren Ludlow to stand for Invercargill mayoralty". 11 April 2019.
5. "Shadbolt, 71, to stand for Invercargill mayoralty again next year". 26 July 2018.
6. "Ria Bond joins Invercargill mayoralty race". 15 April 2019.
7. "Toni Biddle to battle Tim Shadbolt for Invercargill mayoralty". 5 December 2018.
8. "Toni Biddle pulls out of mayoralty race, anyone going to take on Sir Tim Shadbolt?". 21 February 2019.
9. "Paddy O'Brien rules out running for Invercargill mayoralty in 2019". 22 February 2019.
10. "Final results for Invercargill local authority elections". Invercargill City Council. 17 October 2019.