Len Brown: 29.6 per cent
John Banks: 28.7 per cent
The race for the Super City mayoralty is going down to the wire - Manukau Mayor Len Brown and Auckland City Mayor John Banks are almost tied in the latest Herald-DigiPoll survey.
Eight weeks before the Super City elections on October 9, Mr Brown is on 29.6 per cent, less than one point ahead of Mr Banks on 28.7 per cent - within the 3.5 per cent margin of error.
The previous Herald-DigiPoll mayoral survey, in May, put Mr Brown 11 points ahead of Mr Banks.
The new survey shows the momentum has shifted to Mr Banks after Mr Brown's response to his council credit card breaches in June.
Details of the latest survey reveal worrying signs for the first-term Manukau mayor. His main support comes from voters in South Auckland, who tend not to vote.
Mr Banks, who has the backing of affluent sections of the community who do get out to vote, said the election was on a knife edge.
"I clearly understand I need to make up some ground in Manukau City, but I appreciate that is the home base of my opponent," he said.
Mr Brown was coy about voter apathy in South Auckland, but said the survey was a reminder to communities of the need to get on the roll and vote.
None of the four other mayoral candidates are making any impact. North Shore Mayor Andrew Williams was a distant third in the poll on 3.9 per cent.
