Wayne Brown has stormed home to win a second term as Mayor of Auckland, comfortably beating his main challenger, Kerrin Leoni.

In progress results, Brown secured 146,642 votes - about 90,000 clear of Leoni, who has received 56,612.

Third place, based on the provisional results, is Ted Johnston, an independent candidate, with 21,661 votes.

Wayne Brown addressing media at Karanga Plaza, Wynyard Quarter, today after progress results came in re-electing him as Auckland mayor. Photo / Jason Dorday.

Progress results include votes received up until yesterday evening. They do not include special votes or votes received this morning.

Preliminary results will be announced on Monday. They include votes received today, but special votes are still not included.

Final results and official results include all votes, including special votes. They will be released by Friday, October 17.

Brown addressed media at Karanga Plaza on Auckland’s Wynyard Quarter this afternoon with Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson.

He said it was “heartening” to receive the result, labelling it an endorsement from the city for his policies.

He said he was here to “finish the job that I’ve started” and was “relieved and humbled by the fact that I’ve got an overwhelming support.”

“I haven’t quite finished everything I’ve set out to fix.

Auckland mayoral candidates from left to right: Rob McNeil, Kerrin Leoni, Wayne Brown and Eric Chuah. 

“I’m looking forward to getting my hands on AT. It’s taken me three years. 

“The most important thing now is to take full advantage of taking control of Auckland Transport. 

He said its focus should be on public transport. 

Brown said his focus was on improving transport, road works and the level of construction in the city. He also said he was determined to lift Auckland’s ability to improve the economy. 

“I think the finances are in pretty good condition now. 

“Now that we’ve got in place the 10 rules on how we spend money the waste will go away. They’ll be less dumb stuff.” 

He said Auckland’s “biggest opponent” was Wellington. 

“They need to let us have the ability to make our own decisions.” 

Desley Simpson joined Brown at his press conference. 

“Congrats boss,” she said as she arrived. 

Brown jokingly observed she was in the typical “subtle colours”, as she had come straight from the Diwali festival in Auckland’s city centre and was draped in a bright orange top and green scarf. 

Simpson said she believed Brown made the biggest “transformational change” since the super city came into being in 2010. 

She cited the Auckland Future Fund and CCO reform. 

“He has made a huge leap in these changes and now people want to see those changes embedded over the next three years.” 

Simpson said the next three years would be a “dot the i’s and cross the t’s kind of term”. 

“I look forward to sharing the role with the mayor.” 

In a pre-election interview with the Herald’s Simon Wilson, the 79-year-old leader of the country’s largest city said he wanted one more shot “to finish the things I started”. 

They include: to fix Auckland’s infrastructure, stop wasting money, get Auckland moving, make the most of Waitematā Harbour, and take control of council organisations. 

“The one that I’m most interested in is the AT [Auckland Transport] thing. And I’m only just getting my hands on it…and also the culture of not wasting money is starting to take hold. I think three more years and they’ll stop that, but I won’t do any more after this, that’s for sure, Brown said. 

For Leoni, her single term on the Auckland Council as the Labour councillor for Whau is over. She stood as an independent candidate for the mayoralty and did not contest the Whau seat. 

Brown won the mayoralty in 2022 as an outsider, seeing off two potential rivals on the right, restaurateur Leo Molloy and Heart of the City chief executive Viv Beck, and the left’s Efeso Collins. 

He adopted a blunt and combative style early in his first term and faced criticism for his response to Auckland’s devastating storms in early 2023. Since then, however, he has grown into the role and made progress on his “Fix Auckland” agenda. 

Wayne Brown and Desley Simpson, left, teamed up in June to run under the mayor's Fix Auckland ticket. 

Looking back on the 2023 floods, Brown said: “I wasn’t particularly well prepared. The council wasn’t particularly well prepared. Auckland Emergency Management wasn’t well prepared. The city wasn’t well prepared. I’ve learned a lot.”

Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson, who considered a tilt at the mayoralty but chose instead to be Brown’s running mate on his ‘Fix Auckland’ ticket, has been re-elected unopposed and will retain the deputy role.

There was a last-minute flurry of voting before the polls closed today at noon. This morning’s votes were secured and delivered to the Election Services for counting. These votes will contribute to the preliminary results to be announced on Monday.

Low voter turnout

As of yesterday, Auckland’s voter turnout was 23.1%, which is 6 percent less than 2022’s turnout on the eve before the close of voting.

Auckland Council’s General Manager Governance and Engagement, Lou-Ann Ballantyne, was disappointed with the rate of Auckland’s participation despite the council’s efforts to make voting as accessible as possible.

“Anecdotally, we’ve heard people didn’t know who to vote for. And typically, when voters are unsure about candidates or are happy with the status quo, they are likely to abstain from voting, and this could be a reason for the decrease in turnout, said Ballantyne.

“There is no straightforward solution to get more Aucklanders voting,” Ballantyne said.

In 2022, Brown won the mayoral race with a total of 181,810 votes ahead of Efeso Collins by 57,008.