Adams, who is now heading into his third term leading the Hauraki District, received 4694 votes, while second-placed Roman Jackson only secured 622, giving Adams 7.5 votes for every vote cast for Jackson.
Asked about his convincing win, Adams responded with a celebratory “woohoo”, saying he was not aware he had won with such a margin.
“Hauraki always punches well above its weight,” he said. “It’s quite pleasing, quite humbling”.
Adams said he was confident he would win, but did not expect such a result, noting incumbent mayors have the advantage of having the profile to effectively campaign throughout their term.
In the Grey District, Tania Gibson received 7.2 votes for every vote cast for her rival, the Money Free Party New Zealand’s Richard Osmaston.
Osmaston ran for mayor in five districts, losing each race.
The closest race, both by numbers alone and ratio of votes, was for the Westland District Council leadership, with Hokitika businesswoman Jacquie Grant named mayor-elect on a tight four-vote lead over the incumbent, Helen Lash.
But Grant is not celebrating yet, saying in a post on Facebook “the election is not a done deal”.
She said until special votes are counted on Thursday, “it is a waiting game”.
At 82 years old, a victory would make Grant the country’s oldest mayor and the second transgender mayor after the late Georgina Beyer.
Among those provisionally elected with the closest numbers is Whakatāne District Mayor-elect Nándor Tánczos, who was ahead of the incumbent, Victor Luca, by only 96 votes.
Luca was first announced the winner on progress results, but he’s been overtaken by Tánczos on the new numbers.
The former Green Party MP, who gained attention for being the first Rastafarian MP and skateboarding to work at Parliament, said on social media that while there are still 500 special votes to count, he does not expect the result to change.
Chris Knox is a scientist turned data-journalist who investigates the stories behind the numbers, and creates interactives for Herald readers to explore them.
Ethan Manera is a Wellington-based journalist covering Wellington issues, local politics and business in the capital. He can be emailed at ethan.manera@nzme.co.nz.
