Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown has today announced he is standing again for the top job in October.
In a statement, 78-year-old Brown said: “There’s more to do, and I have the experience to get it done.”
“I don’t stand for any political party, and my focus remains firmly on the work at hand – fixing Auckland, not running an election campaign.
“My priority is to ensure that ratepayers get a fair deal and that every dollar spent by Auckland Council delivers real value to our communities,” he said.
The Auckland Mayor had repeatedly teased his second tilt at the mayoralty, including in his regular column in the Sunday Star-Times last weekend.
Chris Matthews, who served as Brown’s campaign manager three years ago, also recently re-registered the domain “fixauckland.co.nz”.
In the 2022 Auckland mayoral election, Brown attracted 144,000 votes in comparison to about 90,000 for incumbent Manukau councillor Efeso Collins. Craig Lord was third with 18,000 votes.
Previously, Brown campaigned on issues around transport, crime, unfinished projects, endless orange cones, rising costs and council waste.
“I will have more to say about my goals and ambitions for the second term as the year unfolds, but for now, my commitment remains the same – delivering for Aucklanders,” he said at today’s announcement.
“This city has a brilliant future, and it’s a job I want to keep doing.”
Few others have so far declared an interest in the mayoral race beginning in September.
Those that had included first-term West Auckland councillor Kerrin Leoni and third-time perennial candidate and former New Conservatives leader Ted Johnston.
Desley Simpson, Brown’s deputy on council, previouslyt admitted she was considering a run, but hadn’t decided despite her son registering the website “desleyformayor.co.nz”. Simpson said the URL was acquired “as a bit of a laugh”.
Website domain registrars did not typically verify registrant names and contact details before listing them publicly.