Far North District councillor Moko Tepania has made history after being elected as the district's first Māori mayor.
Tepania (Ngāti Kahu ki Whangaroa, Te Rarawa) took the lead ahead of council veteran Ann Court Saturday morning.
In the final count today Tepania had 7805 votes. A comfortable 443 vote margin above Court, who trailed at 7362.
A one-term councillor, was instrumental in getting the council to consider Māori Wards in 2021 after its 2020 split vote meant a motion for the wards failed.
He told 1News, unfinished business and a huge amount of encouragement from friends, whānau and the public planted the seed of his mayoral bid.
“I wasn’t even considering running again for council, because we got Māori Wards over the line so I knew there was going to be a voice for Māori at the table guaranteed - four voices actually out of a table of 11.
“But when I looked at all the work that we had done, or had started at council, and when I thought about what the next three years could be, that was a part of the reason why I wanted to stand.
“I also had so many calls from whānau and community members to ask me to run. So to be respectful I thought if I didn’t run for mayor I have to have really good reasons not to because all of these people trust in me and believe that I can do the role.”
The Far North district stretches from Towai right to the top of the North Island at Cape Reinga.
At age 31, Tepania was the council representative for the Kaikohe-Hokianga ward and the youngest councillor in the district.
He is now also the district's youngest mayor.
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