Article - Torika Tokalau - Local Democracy Reporter
Wayne Brown's name recognition means mayoral candidates hoping to topple the incumbent from the top job are facing an uphill battle, one expert says.
Dr Edward Elder, an expert in political marketing and a professional teaching fellow at the University of Auckland, said Brown's name was his biggest strength.
"You can look at all the Auckland or Auckland City mayors going back to 1983, they were either former high profile national-level politicians, had been a mayor prior, were high profile business people, or were part of a family with high name ID," Elder said.
Elder said despite the criticism Brown copped earlier on during his first term as Auckland mayor, he now had name recognition.
Brown was criticised for not reacting quickly enough and for his lack of visibility when Auckland flooded in 2023.
"If you asked me in early 2023 after the floods, I would say something different but since then, things have been chugging along relatively smoothly in Auckland. Especially, when you compare that to a high profile like Tory Whanau in Wellington," Elder said.
"Because of that dynamic, it makes it a lot easier for Wayne Brown to get re-elected. At this point, there is not much of a larger challenge from someone with the name ID to do so."
Brown was up against 11 other candidates who have put their hats in the ring for the top Auckland job. The other candidates in the mayoral race are Kerrin Leoni, John Alcock, Eric Boon Leong Chuah, Michael Coote, Ted Johnson, Denise Widdison, Rob McNeil, Ryan Pausina, Jason Pieterse, Simon Stam and Peter Wakeman.
"He's (Brown) actually done a good job of almost leaning into what were criticisms of him early on. Basically, playing up in almost a comedic fashion, via his communication, the idea of him being old and curmudgeonly like, playing the Bob Jones role."
Ratepayers would also appeal to how things seemed to be running somewhat smoothly in Auckland.
"It's not a case of, 'I like him because he's done x', its more of, 'well, things don't seem to be getting worse and that's good enough'.
" Local government expert Andrew Cardow from Massey University said Brown may have the best chance of winning by default, but his issue was his platform of trying to fix Auckland.
"It is ironic that his affiliation is 'fix Auckland', he has not done that," Cardow said.
"During his term, the Central Rail Link has not been completed and businesses are leaving what was once a busy Queen St."
Cardow said other mayoral candidates were standing on platforms of a similar vein, suggesting in one way or another that they would fix Auckland too.
"The real issue here is that Auckland is not broken. Likewise, all candidates seem to be fixated on rates and one candidate on questionable 'we are all one people' platform.
"There are other ways of generating income and they are not really being brought to the floor."
Postal voting is open now and runs until October 11.
From September 9 to 22, enrolled voters can expect to receive voting papers in their letterboxes.