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Labor’s Jo Luxton is ready to celebrate after winning Rangitata’s National seat with a majority of more than 3,000 votes.
Luxton, a congresswoman on the 2017 Labor list and ranked 41st on the current list, had a total of 18,876 on election night, 3484 ahead of National’s Megan Hands, 67 on her party’s list, which ended with 15,392.
National had held the seat since its inception in 2008 with Jo Goodhew as MP from 2008-2014 before Andrew Falloon was elected in 2017 only to resign in disgrace in August. Falloon won by 6,331 votes in 2017.
JOHN BISSET / Stuff
Jo Luxton of Labor, with her husband Matt, and supporters at Sopheze On The Bay, celebrate their victory in the Rangitata electorate.
Luxton led from the beginning on Saturday and at first said he was happy to have received more votes than he received in 2017, which was 13,663.
Talking to Stuff from her electoral party in Timaru, Luxton said she was eager to celebrate her victory with her team.
“We actually did it. It’s amazing, it’s so amazing. I can be officially excited now. It’s unexpected, it’s amazing, and I’m so grateful.
JOHN BISSET / Stuff
Jo Luxton talks to her daughter Kelsey Hart, in Scotland, after winning the Rangitata Labor electorate.
“We have not had a Labor MP in this constituency (then named Aoraki) since Jim Sutton in the early 2000s.
“I’m going to enjoy the evening, I’m going to relax now and really enjoy the night with my team. We’ll stay in Timaru tonight so we can have a few bottles of champagne or glasses of champagne, I should say.
“In fact, it’s a real surprise to me.”
“First of all, I am very proud of my team, I have the most incredible team behind me and they have worked very hard.
“I am so thankful for everyone who voted for me, who put their faith in me and I hope to make you really proud.
JOHN BISSET / Stuff
Rangitata Labor candidate Jo Luxton and her 2-year-old granddaughter Lyric Luxton and daughter-in-law Amelia James at their election night party at Sopheze On The Bay.
“I really want to represent the electorate as an elected deputy.”
Luxton said victory would change her role as a deputy, as she went from working as a list deputy to a Rangitata deputy.
“There are many more resources related to being a deputy, as a list deputy, you don’t get as many resources compared to an elected deputy … that will be really good to be able to better serve the electorate.”
Luxton said she expected to be much busier working as an electorate deputy once she realized the victory.
Joanne Holden / Things
Rangitata Labor candidate Jo Luxton follows the election night results with her husband Matt at Sopheze On The Bay in Timaru.
Reflecting on the campaign, Luxton said she was tired.
“It has been exhausting, it has been stressful.” She gave her team credit for making her cross the line.
On Saturday, Luxton and Hands dominated the contest with ACT’s Hamish Hutton a distant third in 1220, followed by New Conservative’s Lachie Ashton 968, Gerrie Lightenberg (Greens) 629, Grant William Kelynack (Outdoors) 270, Aroha Maru (Advance NZ) 219, Brannon Favel (Social Credit) 91, James Rae (NAP) 56.
Hands said she still believes in the values of the National Party and that one day she would be a deputy and “a strong voice.”
He said that he had used his 10 weeks of campaigning efficiently, with great effort.
“There has been a change at the national level tonight,” he said.
He said he had just spoken to Luxton and congratulated her.
“She recognized our campaign and said we had a very tough campaign in the 10 weeks we had.
JOHN BISSET / Stuff
Rangitata National Candidate Megan Hands, her partner Simon Morse, and their 15-month-old son Jack at their election party at the Landing Services Building.
“We are feeling this across the country and I know it is disappointing, but I have been a member of this party for 12 years.
“The values of the National Party are going nowhere and neither am I.”
“I’m probably feeling a little more nervous now than I did before at night, but it’s good to see it,” she said.
“It’s not over yet”.
This marks Luxton’s second attempt at the seat, which he described as a “pretty impressive ride.”
Hamish Hutton, ACT candidate for Rangitata, said he is very happy that David Seymour has a team to support him.
“There is no better advocate for small businesses,” he said.
“And he has done a very good job of communicating.
“I’m a bit worried about the future with this Labor government. I think we’ve had a very Covid-related election, but we have to think positive.”
Green Party candidate Gerrie Ligtenberg said “this is the best result for the Greens and Labor to do as well as they have done.”
“It means that we can really move forward and achieve something progressive.”
He said the results so far were “very, very exciting.”
Bejon Haswell / Stuff
Incumbent National Representative Jacqui Dean speaks during her campaign. (File photo)
Waitaki counting
In the region’s other electorate, Waitaki, incumbent national MP Jacqui Dean, who is 14th on the party’s list, has walked away from Labor’s Liam Wairepo, ranked 83rd by his party, after a titanic battle early on.
Dean, who is seeking a sixth term, followed Wairepo at least twice and now has a 3116 lead, 17261-1445, with 96 percent counted.
Dean said she was “waiting for the results to come in” while she and Wairepo traded leads.
“The votes from the largest city are first, so what we’re seeing now are some of the other votes that are coming in,” he said.
“We just have to wait and see.”
Wairepo, who is at his campaign office in Oamaru with about 30 friends and volunteers, said taking the lead was a “testament” to the hard work of his campaign volunteers.
“I’m in a room full of our volunteers and the energy is bright,” he said.
“It is a testament to the hard work of Labor and the Waitaki branch.”
He said he had taken time off from work and study to “put everything” into his campaign.
“This is my first time as a candidate [of any electorate] and it’s a pretty good result. “
He said his main focus was to see Labor in Parliament and becoming a Waitaki MP would be an advantage.
Wairepo, based in Oamaru, has been a member of the Labor Party since he was 17 years old and has worked on local government campaigns for the party, as well as in the office of former Health Minister Dr. David Clark.
In the run-up to the election, Wairepo said the electorate’s tourism and hospitality industries had been badly affected by Covid-19.
“We still don’t know when the borders will open again, we have to have a plan for when they do,” he said.
LABOR PARTY / Supplied
Liam Wairepo is the youngest candidate in the Labor Party in these elections. (File photo)
