There have been plenty of surprises in the mix for our local body elections, with some more new names coming in at the 11th hour as nominations closed at midday on Friday (August 1).

Charlie Sanders from Cromwell has popped up in the mayoralty race, and among the 14 new candidates in the running for Central Otago District Council is former senior manager Louise van der Voort, a long time CODC staffer who had been in an executive role since 2004.

Also nominated for the Vincent ward of CODC is Gill Booth, Cam Withington, Kas McEntyre, Dave McKenzie and Nathan McLean; in Cromwell, David George, Terry Davis, Stephen Carruth, Andrew Burns, Gareth Noble and Bob Scott are looking for a

seat; as is Michelle Bisset in the Maniototo. Mark Quinn has his name down in the Teviot, alongside the mayoralty, as well as Charlie in Cromwell.

Wānaka-based Nicky Rhodes has teamed up with Otago Regional councillors Gary Kelliher and Michael Laws in the Dunstan constituency to form ‘Vision Otago,’ along with Carmen Hope (Molyneux), Chanel Gardner (Dunedin) and former Dunedin City councillor Hilary Calvert.

Cr Kelliher said, when contacted, that ‘Vision Otago’ was not a political alignment, “but a loose group of like-minded thinkers… we’re all about saving the ORC from itself”.

Gary said he was initially sitting on the fence with regards to the group, which was instigated by Cr Laws several months ago, but decided there was an opportunity to make real change at council.

“The ORC staff are just so aligned with the previous government, and now the ORC has attracted nationwide attention, something has to be done.”

Amie Pont from Ranfurly is also in the running for the Dunstan ward of the ORC from Ranfurly, as are tourism manager Matt Hollyer of Queenstown and Ben Farrell, also of Queenstown. 

Matt said he would bring “a proven track record of strategic thinking and operational effectiveness” to the role.

“I will work with diligence, integrity, and long-term thinking to build a thriving Otago – economically, socially and environmentally.”

There are also at least 22 new names standing for community boards in Maniototo, Teviot Valley, Vincent and Cromwell, and the Elections NZ website was still loading new names well into Friday afternoon.

Contact Energy engineer Nathan McLean, of Alexandra, is a new face hoping for a seat on Central Otago District Council.

The father of two said being on council had been on his bucket list for the past 10 years.

He said what he brings to the council table is strong community representation, with “skin in the game”, describing himself as someone who is community connected through his various social connections, at school and sports groups.

The names of all new candidates will all be published on August 6.

Between September 9 and 22 voting documents will be delivered to people, and the cut off day by mail is October 7 - but council will open its ballot boxes after that.

Election day 2025 is October 11 and voting closes at midday, with preliminary results out soon after.

Check out our election button for more details.  

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