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Former Auckland mayoral candidate Kerrin Leoni says she’s proud of what her campaign achieved and is now taking time to rest and consider her next steps.
Leoni, who finished second in the 2025 Auckland mayoral race, received 77,577 votes, placing her behind incumbent mayor Wayne Brown, who was re-elected with 180,130 votes – a margin of just over 102,000 votes.
“I only really had name recognition in my own ward, so to reach 77,000 votes was significant,” Leoni told the Franklin Times.
“It’s about the same share of the vote John Tamihere achieved in 2019, and he had far more profile and three times the budget.”
She says she’s proud of those numbers given the challenges she faced, including no major-party backing and limited national media exposure.
“This campaign was about giving Aucklanders someone else to vote for and offering fresh leadership for our city.”
Leoni believes the endorsement of Wayne Brown by Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson was a turning point in the race, helping consolidate support among National-aligned voters.
While Leoni is not ruling out another run, she says her focus now is on recovery and reflection.
“Many people have encouraged me to stand again, but for now I’m taking time out to rest and think about what’s next.”
Leoni also voiced concern over the low voter turnout, which fell below 30 percent. She says many Aucklanders reported not receiving voting papers and that 5,000 special votes were deemed invalid.
“We need to make it easier to vote, perhaps through a combination of online and in-person voting and do more to educate people about local government,” she said.
“When more than 70 percent of Aucklanders aren’t voting, we have to review the process.”
Despite the result, Leoni says she remains optimistic.
“The 77,000 votes we received show Aucklanders want change. I’ll be taking some time now, but my commitment to this city hasn’t changed.”
