October 11, 2022
Leoni lines up council seat with late surge
Labour’s Kerrin Leoni has pulled ahead in the race for the Whau ward seat on Auckland Council.
Election night results gave the seat to Communities and Residents candidate Tracy Mulholland, but the addition of votes returned on Saturday morning gave a 278-vote majority to Ms Leoni, an executive assistant with Ngati Paoa Iwi Trust.
The final count including special votes will be published on Friday.
The left also flipped a seat in the Albert-Eden-Puketāpapa ward, with Julie Fairey overtaking Will McKenzie by 551 votes.
It means the centre-left bloc now has nine of the 20 seats, and members of the Independent Statutory Māori Board also sit on committees apart from the full council with voting rights.
Turnout across the super city now stands at 35 percent.