A bland election? Not in this box-office electorate

TVNZ’s Te Aniwa Hurihanganui on the Māori vote and the most exciting race of 2026.

For Te Aniwa Hurihanganui, there is no argument about where to be on election night. TVNZ’s Māori affair correspondent will be reporting from Whangarei, in the heart of arguably the most electrifying electorate in the 2026 election: Te Tai Tokerau. 

“It's the most exciting Maori seat for sure,” said Hurihanganui, who led a whistlestop tour of the seats in an episode of At Large with Toby Manhire.

The electorate, which stretches from West Auckland up to the top of the island, encompassing Takapuna and Kaikohe, promises a genuine four-way contest. “These four candidates are so competitive, it's impossible to tell who's going to win,” she said.

The incumbent is Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. She was elected for Te Pāti Māori, but “split from them in the most dramatic way possible” and stands for the newly formed Te Tai Tokerau Party, following a protracted and bitter falling out with the party. 

Aperahama Edwards, “one of the most well-known iwi leaders in Northland”, takes the TPM candidacy. The party had “picked the strongest possible candidate to go up against Mariamen,” said Hurihanganui.

For Labour, Willow-Jean Prime boasts profile and experience. “She's been a cabinet minister. She knows her stuff. She's across everything.”

And then there’s Hūhana Lyndon, representing the Greens, a party which has substantially grown its support in Māori constituencies. A poll last month caused a stir when it put Lyndon first, ahead of Prime, Edwards and Kapa-Kingi. “She's really vocal, strong. She turns up to a lot of things … She is what you call in te ao Maori kanohi kitea, which means that you see her on the ground. For Māori people, that is a massive thing.”

After starting in Whangarei on Saturday night, Hurihanganui’s next move will depend on the numbers. “As the results come in, I'll choose whether to go back to Auckland where Willow Jean Prime is based, or I'll go up to the Bay of Islands, where Hūhana Lyndon is based.” If it’s Edwards or Kapa-Kingi.

“There's so much to talk about. There's so much drama involved in this seat,” said Hurihanganui. “It's such a hearty electorate. Ngāpuhi people are the heartiest people, you know?  … And these candidates, they love the north. They're so proud to be Māori … I can't wait.”

Hurihanganui said she’d relished co-hosting last week’s kaupapa Māori election debate for TVNZ1. “love kaupapa Māori debates. Every election cycle, I hang out to watch them because they’re so entertaining … It injects some energy into an election campaign, especially when it’s been as bland as this one has been.”

While there were illuminating contributions and plenty of humour, “I also think it was a missed opportunity for some of our Maori MPs to give people some hope, to inspire people,” she said. “I think a few of them failed to connect.”