1959 Lower Hutt mayoral election
Open-knowledge reference entry
The 1959 Lower Hutt mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. The elections were held for the role of Mayor of Lower Hutt plus other local government positions including fifteen city councillors, also elected triennially. The polling was conducted using the standard first-past-the-post electoral method.
Background
The incumbent Mayor, Percy Dowse, sought re-election for a fourth term. Dowse was opposed by George Wain who stood as an independent candidate. Dowse received a swing against the majority he won in 1956 against former councillor Will Giltrap. This confounded expectations as Wain had no previous civic experience and had only lived in the area for a few years. Just as in the previous election the Citizens' Association (whose tickets won no seats at the 1950 and 1953 elections) did not stand an official ticket of candidates and endorsed a slate of 10 independents while also recommending five of the sitting Labour councillors for re-election. The Ratepayer Independents polled far better than expected with nine of its candidates being elected and only six Labour councillors were re-elected (five of whom were endorsed by the Ratepayer Independents). Sam Chesney was the only Labour councillor elected without their endorsement.
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