Labour has selected music teacher Jamie Strange as its candidate in Hamilton East - once considered one of the bellwether seats of New Zealand.
The father of four young children will try to wrestle the seat back from National. David Bennett won the seat with a 10,000 vote majority in 2014.
Strange missed out on selection in Hamilton East in 2014 and was instead selected as Labour's candidate in Taupo despite his Hamilton base.
That is a safe National seat and Strange worked full-time throughout the campaign. He also stood unsuccessfully for Hamilton City Council in 2013.
Tony Cartner, Chair of the Hamilton East Labour Electorate Committee, said Strange was an excellent advocate for the Hamilton region and would make a good MP.