In a world of clicks, likes and shares the nine mayoral Invercargill candidates are somewhat sluggish to get campaigns rolling.
Fair call that nominations don’t close until August 12 and that’s when we might see a ramp up of election promises to the city folk.
An early standout has to be Tom Morton, a “TikToker” with a following of more than 5500. In fact, he used his social media platform in an earnest call out to his followers to find two people to nominate him.
Morton has created video responses to dozens of questions ranging from the housing crisis and road safety to supporting trans rights and tuatara’s.
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Bluff Community Board member Noel Peterson, who was the first to get his nomination in, is also on TikTok, with a following of 8600.
Neither Tom nor Noel are participating in any Tik Tok dances like most of the 1 billion monthly users of the platform, but you could say they’re both having a good crack at having a visible presence on the app.
Ria Bond, Ian Pottinger, Rebecca Amundsen have all launched official facebook pages for their respective campaigns.
Tag lines vary from “It’s about the people” for Bond, while Amundsen and Pottinger are “Leading Change” and “Keeping Things Real” respectively.
Bond appears to be a #hashtag queen and getting amongst it with her posts to spread her message. And, is also using the platform to engage people to help her, mainly with the traditional route of putting up her election boards on their fences.
With a new page only launched on July 19, Bond has garnered 218 followers.
Pottinger’s campaign has been a quiet launch, he’s garnered 0 likes and 0 followers despite launching the day after Bond on July 20.
Amundsen has arguably been the most successful in pulling in the clicks, with more than 1300 followers on her Facebook page.
Appearing to be leveraging off the youth vote, much of Amundsen’s posts remind those who are under 45 that they are less likely to be represented on a council table.
Despite not having an official page himself, Nobby Clark has made a few comments on Amundsen’s posts, particularly regarding her views on Three Waters and Groundswell.
If you’re not already aware, Clark has been vocal in his opposition to Three Waters, Amundsen.
Ludlow has his old mayoral candidate photos on his personal page from when he stood in the past election, and mentions in his profile that he is mayoral candidate for 2022.
Incumbent Mayor Sir Tim Shadbolt has his official mayoral facebook page with 8.3k followers that was set up in 2016.
However, on his personal page he has been posting a lot about needing a radical change at the council.
Finally, the latest entry to the mayoral race – Toni Biddle – has made a single reference to her standing on her own personal Facebook account, thanking friends and family for their support on her announcement.
Meanwhile, Invercargill City Council deputy electoral officer Michael Morris said the nomination period had been steady.
“Council has so far processed four nominations for Mayor and six for council but none yet for
Bluff Community Board,” Morris said.
“We’re really hoping to see some of the passionate members of our Bluff community step
forward for these crucial roles. It’s so important for Bluff to have a voice and to be heard at
Council,” he said.
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