The Curia polling from January shows 30% of Wellington voters preferred fiscally conservative councillor Ray Chung, compared to 18% who support Tory Whanau for another term. Photo / Mark Mitchell.
The Curia polling from January shows 30% of Wellington voters preferred fiscally conservative councillor Ray Chung, compared to 18% who support Tory Whanau for another term. Photo / Mark Mitchell.
Polling on Wellington’s mayoral race has finally been released to the Herald, revealing who residents are backing.
The Curia poll was commissioned by right-wing campaign group Better Wellington in January, who had refused to release the full results — until now.
The results show more support for a current councillor to take on the top job than current mayor Tory Whanau.
Three months after commissioning polling on Wellington’s mayoral race, a right-wing campaign group has released the full results to the Herald, showing more support for fiscally conservative councillor Ray Chung than current mayor Tory Whanau.
The Curia polling, commissioned by Better Wellington in late January, asked 1000 Wellingtonianstheir thoughts on the city and the upcoming October election.
Better Wellington initially refused to release the data due to its inclusion of prospective candidates who have not announced their intentions.
The Herald pushed back, with the group changing its mind and agreeing to provide the full numbers.
Mayoral polling shows 30% of Wellington voters preferred fiscally conservative councillor Ray Chung, compared to 18% who support Tory Whanau for another term. Photo / Mark Mitchell.
At the time of polling, only Whanau, Chung and conservationist Kelvin Hastie were confirmed as running for mayor of Wellington.
Asked who they would support for mayor, 30% of residents said Chung, 18% said Whanau, and 6% said Hastie.
Forty-six per cent were unsure.
Better Wellington has endorsed Chung for the mayoralty. He last week announced he is running on a ticket with several new candidates, named Independent Together, which share a policy platform of not increasing rates and cutting wasteful spending.
Broken down by party vote in the 2023 general election, 40% of Green Party voters polled said they would support Whanau in October’s election, 14% would support Chung, 6% would support Hastie, and 40% were unsure.
Voters were also asked about a number of rumoured mayoral candidates.
Wellington City Council's election will be held on October 11. Photo / Mark Mitchell.
Seventy-five per cent had not heard of John Apanowicz, a current city councillor who said he is keen to stand for the mayoralty.
Labour councillor Ben McNulty, who has said he is not going for the top job, was unknown to 51%. Seventeen per cent had a positive view of him, 4% a negative view.
Chung, who is running on cutting wasteful spending and not increasing rates, was known by a majority of those asked, with only 43% unfamiliar. Twenty-six per cent saw him positively and 7% negatively.
Independent councillor Diane Calvert, who has been rumoured to run but has not yet decided, was unknown to 49%. Fourteen per cent held a positive view of her compared to 9% who saw her negatively.
Councillor Diane Calvert still hasn't announced whether she will run for the mayoralty. Photo / Mark Mitchell.
Former mayor Justin Lester was not known to 32% of voters. He was liked by 26% compared to 13% who saw him negatively.
Other names include businessman Luke Pierson, who has since ruled out a run, mayoral candidate and former councillor Rob Goulden, Green regional councillor Thomas Nash, and city councillor and National Party member Nicola Young.
Name recognition, in order, was Justin Lester 68%, Nicola Young 62%, Ray Chung 57%, Diane Calvert 51%, Ben McNulty 49%, Thomas Nash 41%, Rob Goulden 32%, Karl Tiefenbacher 31%, Luke Pierson 29%, and John Apanowicz 25%.
Net positive in order was Ray Chung +19%, Justin Lester +13%, Ben McNulty +13%, Nicola Young +9%, Thomas Nash +9%, Karl Tiefenbacher +7%, Diane Calvert +5%, Luke Pierson +5%, Rob Goulden +3%, John Apanowicz +2%.
Councillor Ray Chung is campaigning on cutting spending and not increasing rates. Photo / Mark Mitchell.
Ben McNulty was the most popular candidate among under-40s, Justin Lester among 40 to 60-year-olds, and Chung with over-60s.
Councillor Ben McNulty says he isn't running, despite positive polling numbers. Photo / Mark Mitchell.
The polling also asked about key issues in the city.
Most thought the city was heading in the wrong direction, with 54% saying it was on the wrong track, compared with 27% who felt things were going well.
Cycleways were considered a low priority by 63%, 23% considered it a medium priority, and 10% said it is a high priority.
Green candidate Tory Whanau says she isn't worried about polling. Photo / Mark Mitchell.
“My focus remains on delivering on our key priorities — water infrastructure, social housing and climate resilience — and on the work that needs to be done to serve our city well.
“That work, not poll numbers, dictates my direction.”
Chung said the message he received from constituents was “that Wellingtonians are fed up with high rates rises and the never-ending spending and want better financial management of their money”.
“Our borrowing is at record levels, and S&P have downgraded our credit rating further,” Chung said.
The poll took place before several candidates announced their candidacy.
Since then, businessman Karl Tiefenbacher, Wellington Live owner Graham Bloxham and former city councillor Rob Goulden have confirmed their plans to run.
Candidate Karl Tiefenbacher, who owns Kaffee Eis, was unknown by 69% of those polled. Photo / Mark Mitchel.
“The city needs change, and I have been approached by a wide range of people asking me to run,” Little told the Herald last week.
Andrew Little is eyeing up a mayoral bid, saying the city needs a change. Photo / George Heard.
The local election will be held on October 11. The council’s candidate nominations open on July 4 and close on August 1.
Ethan Manera is a multimedia journalist based in Wellington. He joined NZME in 2023 and is interested in local issues, politics and property in the capital. Ethan is always on the lookout for a story and can be emailed at ethan.manera@nzme.co.nz.
