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Regional | Dora Roimata Langsbury

Rino Tirikatene leads in Te Tai Tonga electorate

Today the results of Māori Television's election polls were revealed, with a strong focus on the candidates for the Te Tai Tonga electorate.

At 7.30am this morning, Rino Tirikatene was out campaigning, despite having a clear lead over the candidates at 48%.

The second-placed candidate in the chicken race is Ngaire Button with 17%.

Georgina Beyer was announced as the MANA candidate with just five days remaining as we canvassed for our poll.  So, she says, the other candidates should watch out for her at 9%.

Despite this being her third time standing in Te Tai Tonga, Green Party’s Dora Langsbury is on 9%.

So, Rino Tirikatene is the front-runner and that's nothing new for his family.  The Tirikatene family have held the Te Tai Tonga seat for over 62 years.

Ngaire Button says the benefits gained by the Māori Party through being at the government table should be the focus, though she admits some are not happy over its relationship with National.

The results also show those undecided and non-voters make up 17%, so, as usual they could be the key to victory.