Meet the record-breaking 16 candidates vying to lead Ōtepoti.

An impressive 16 citizens have put themselves forward to become mayor of Dunedin, proudly bucking the national trend of New Zealanders not giving a shit about local body politics. It’s a record number of candidates (up from 11 in 2022) for Dunedin and the biggest mayoral race in the country this year, doubling Christchurch’s measly eight candidates and comfortably beating Auckland, Wellington and Hamilton, who each have 12. Great work, Dunedin, but also, calm down, Dunedin! What makes the job of mayor the hottest gig in town, and more importantly, why don’t all of these mayoral candidates have websites promoting their campaigns?  

Here’s a quick rundown of the 16 contenders, from the candidate who wants to reset the city like it’s a computer to the candidate who really, truly, lives in a castle. 

Lync Aronson 

Independent candidate Aronson says he has quit his job to “dedicate himself full-time to fighting our city’s future”. He’s campaigning for a fully funded city council, lower rates, better services with AI and real community investment, and promises a “practical, hands-on approach”. 

Sophie Barker 

Barker has been a city councillor since 2019 and previously ran for mayor in 2022. Her goal is to make Dunedin the most liveable city in New Zealand, focusing on transformation, liveability and partnerships. Barker was deputy mayor in 2022-23 before resigning due to difficulties working with current mayor Jules Radich, and – after she was recently endorsed by two of his former Team Dunedin allies – looks to be Radich’s strongest competition. She’s probably the only mayoral candidate to have grown up in a castle, as her parents bought Larnach Castle in 1967 and she was involved with the Dunedin tourist attraction for four decades.

Doug Hall

Hall runs a local IT business. “I’ve spent all my life troubleshooting computer problems, and I would like to think that I’ll be able to use those skills to troubleshoot Dunedin’s Problems, and to reboot the city,” his campaign website says. Just turn it off and on again, surely?

Carmen Houlahan

A Dunedin city councillor since 2019, Houlahan was censured for breaching the council’s code of conduct in 2023 after repeatedly calling and messaging Sophie Barker, who had laid a complaint against Radich. A former journalist and arts publicist, Houlahan previously ran for mayor in 2022. She wants to see strengthened relationships between the council, University of Otago, mana whenua and the business sector, and wants the city to be vibrant and affordable. 

Marie Laufiso

Laufiso became a city councillor in 2016, making her Dunedin’s first ever Pasifika councillor. Laufiso is standing for mayor under the “Building Kotahitaka” ticket, and wants to advocate for the interests of Dunedin’s most vulnerable and at-risk communities and families. “I’m interested in out-of-the-box solutions and approaches,” she told the Otago Daily Times. 

Lianna MacFarlane

There’s little online about MacFarlane’s campaign, other than her hypnotherapy and life-coaching business website which reveals she has “a 25+ year history in natural health, relationship counselling and finance”.  

Mandy Mayhem

A former circus ringleader, Mayhem served on the Waitati Community Board for six years before becoming a Dunedin city councillor in 2022.  Mayhem wants to build a welcoming, inclusive and accessible city where all residents feel valued and listened to. She also has a black belt in taekwondo and a great hat game. 

David Milne

Company director Milne ran for mayor in 2022, but there’s no information online about his current campaign. Thus, we must rely on Toby Manhire’s description of him from a mayoral debate about the arts held three years ago: “David Milne was upbeat, bushy-tailed and at times looked as if he’d accidentally walked into the room, like the guy who was mistakenly put in a live BBC studio to talk about a legal battle in the music industry. ‘I love acting,’ Milne said. ‘I love actors. So I’ve got a lot of great ideas for what you want.’” 

Flynn (Nisvett) Nisbett

With Mayhem’s ringmaster pōtae and Nisvett’s silly hat, could this be the great hat vote-off Dunedin has been waiting for? Nisvett – the leader (“king”) of the Aotearoa New Zealand Silly Hat Party – mostly wants to make Dunedin warm. “I refuse to believe Dunedin needs to be this cold all of the time. Sometimes it’s okay, but it never suits the people who live here and we’ve had enough,” Nisvett says.   

Benedict Ong

Ong is a former international banker who recently returned to his birthplace of Dunedin. He promises bold economic leadership to increase jobs and wages, as well as no rate rises thanks to a “first-of-its-kind financial innovation” that draws on his global corporate financial expertise.  

Jules Radich

The incumbent. Radich was elected as mayor in 2022 with a significant majority, and says his first term has been defined by a focus on practical skills. His critics would say his first term has been marred by controversy (see Sophie Barker above), and his campaign statement that he “didn’t hesitate to push back” against government cuts to the New Dunedin Hospital was quickly disputed by several councillors. Radich says he’s standing again for mayor because he has unfinished business, and his priorities involve strengthening Dunedin’s sustainability and fostering growth. 

Zenith Rose-Wills

Climate activist Rose-Wills is also known as Ruthven Allimrac, and is standing for The Radical Action Faction. 

Update, August 7: Ruthven Allimrac is a vampire who was born in the 18th century. Everything is fine. 

Andrew Simms

Car salesman Simms leads the well-organised Future Dunedin ticket, which includes eight candidates standing for council and advocates for 14 different priorities from lowering rates to heritage to supporting Dunedin railways. While he doesn’t have city council experience, Simms is the current chair of the Mosgiel-Taieri community board.  

Pamela Taylor

Conspiracy theorist Taylor ran for mayor in 2022. 

Mickey Treadwell

Treadwell is a video game programmer and a part-time lecturer, and is standing on a Green Party ticket. Treadwell wants to build the city’s long-term resilience against climate change and an unstable international economy. 

Lee Vandervis

2025 marks Vandervis’s eighth attempt at being elected mayor of Dunedin. He’s been a city councillor since 2004 and has had a contentious time around the council table, including trying to take the Dunedin City Council to the Supreme Court after he was censured for an incident sparked by receiving a $12 parking ticket and calling a mural designed by local school children “woke” and full of “crass ideology”. His mayoral plans to control rates, debt and bureaucracy include cancelling carbon zero and cycleway spending budgets.