The 2019 Tasman District Council election was held on 12 October 2019 as part of the wider 2019 New Zealand local elections to elect members to sub-national councils and boards. One mayor and thirteen district councillors were elected in Tasman District, as well as the members of two community boards.
Elected members Mayor The incumbent mayor, Richard Kempthorne, announced in March 2019 that he would not stand for re-election. Kempthorne had first been elected as a district councillor in the 2001 local election and after serving two terms as a councillor, he had been mayor since winning the 2007 local election. Tim King, who had been Tasman's deputy mayor since 2001 and had first been elected to Tasman District Council as a councillor in the 1998 local elections, was elected to succeed Kempthorne in the mayoralty. Brent Maru, who was the incumbent chairperson of the Motueka Community Board, came in second place. Dean McNamara came third; this was his third mayoral election. McNamara was re-elected as a Moutere-Waimea ward councillor. Maxwell Clark came fourth in the mayoral contest.
+2019 Tasman mayoral electionAffiliationCandidateVotes%NoneTim King 8,03439.80NoneBrent Maru5,84128.94NoneDean McNamara3,41716.93NoneMaxwell Clark2,51412.45Informal250.12Blank3551.76Turnout20,186
Council
+Summary of resultsWardIncumbentElected Sue Brown Chris Hill Paul Sangster Celia Butler Stuart Bryant Tim King Christeen MacKenzie Anne Turley Dean McNamara David Ogilvie Peter Canton Trindi Walker Paul Hawkes Claire Hutt Dana Wensley Trevor Tuffnell Kit Maling Mark Greening
Details The two incumbents in the Golden Bay ward, Sue Brown and Paul Sangster, were both defeated. Chris Hill and Celia Butler were elected with large majorities. Sangster came third, receiving about half the votes of Hill. Brown came fifth in the contest that had six candidates.
+Golden Bay wardAffiliationCandidateVotes%NoneChris Hill1,555NoneCelia Butler1,303NonePaul Sangster734NoneKaya Blown480NoneSue Brown417NoneReg Turner376Informal4Blank9Turnout
In the Motueka ward, three councillors were elected. Preliminary results had Barry Dowler in third place, just 3 votes ahead of Claire Hutt. When the final results were released, Hutt was ahead of Dowler by 24 votes. The result created a gender balance for the first time in the history of Tasman District Council.
+Motueka wardAffiliationCandidateVotes%NoneDavid Ogilvie2,492xNoneTrindi Walker2,463xNoneClair Hutt2,172xIndependentBarry Dowler2,148xIndependentTrevor Norriss1,940xIndependentPaul Dixon-Didier1,104xInformal25xBlank71xTurnoutx
+Moutere–Waimea wardAffiliationCandidateVotes%NoneAnne Turley2,040xNoneDean McNamara2,033xIndependentChristeen MacKenzie1,881xNoneJulie Nevin1,672xNoneDon Everitt1,590xNoneRichard Johns1,397xNoneElisabeth Siegmund980xNoneJennifer Beatson949xNoneJulian Eggers916xNoneHayden Stevenson680xInformal8xBlank179xTurnoutx
+Richmond wardAffiliationCandidateVotes%NoneDana Wensley3,856xNoneKit Maling3,464xNoneTrevor Tuffnell3,090xNoneMark Greening2,673xNoneStan Holland2,040xNoneMaxwell Clark2,030xNoneGary Watson1,677xNonePeter Lynch1,348xNoneMaurie White1,010xInformal7xBlank90xTurnoutx
Lakes–Murchison ward In the Lakes–Murchison ward, Stuart Bryant was declared elected unopposed.
Community boards
+Summary of resultsBoardIncumbentElected Brent Maru Richard Horrell Claire Hutt David Armstrong Barry Dowler Joni Tomsett Lynne Ensor Averill Grant Abbie Langford Grant Knowles Dave Gowland
Details
+Golden Bay Community BoardAffiliationCandidateVotes%NoneAverill Grant1,616xNoneAbbie Langford1,560xNoneGrant Knowles1,470xNoneDave Gowland1,316xNoneRobert Hewison1,283xNoneWendy Andrews737xInformal1xBlank75xTurnoutx
+Motueka Community BoardAffiliationCandidateVotes%NoneBrent Maru3,916xNoneTrindi Walker3,020xNoneRichard Horrell2,492xNoneDavid Armstrong2,059xNoneJoni Tomsett1,938xNoneCharmaine Petereit1,055xNoneJon Taylor675xInformal3xBlank94xTurnoutx
Aftermath During the term, Claire Hutt resigned from the council. She put a notice of her resignation onto her Facebook page on 7 February 2020, stating that "unforeseen personal family circumstances" made her resign. Nominations for the by-election closed on 16 March. Voting documents were sent out on 20 April, with 12 May set as polling day for the by-election. Seven candidates stood for election, with Barry Dowler being successful. Losing candidates were Nick Hughes, Gary Watson, Jennifer Beatson, Tania Corbett, Maxwell Clark, and Elisabeth Siegmund.
Dowler had previously joined Tasman District Council via a by-election in 2017.
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