Mahé Drysdale moved to Waikato's Waipā District - an hour away from Tauranga - for rowing. File photo Photo: Photosport
If Mahé Drysdale is successful in becoming mayor of Tauranga City he will be the only mayor in the country to live outside his city boundaries.
He will also be the only sitting mayor to have successfully won a mayoralty while living outside the area.
Drysdale currently lives in Waikato's Waipā District - nearly 100km and an hour's drive away - and said he would not immediately move to Tauranga City if elected.
Over the last several weeks, RNZ has asked all district, city and unitary councils if their mayor lived within the area. All 66 currently do.
RNZ also asked if the mayor lived within the district when they ran for mayor. Again, 100 percent did.
In Kawerau District Council, for example, mayor Faylene Tunui lived within the district prior to the 2022 elections, as did Malcolm Campbell for the 21 years he held the mayoralty.
Buller mayor Jamie Cleine was born in the district and had lived there "for all of his 47 years", a council spokesperson said.
In South Waikato, a council spokesperson said the area was basically in the DNA of their mayor Gary Petley, who had lived in either Tokoroa or Putāruru most of his life.
Drysdale was surprised to learn he was trying to achieve something no other current mayor had done.
However, despite not living in Tauranga his links to the city were strong, he said.
"It would be weird if I went and ran for Palmerston North, or somewhere that I had no links or knowledge of, but I'm very familiar with Tauranga."
Drysdale had worked in the city for the past two and a half years, it was where he grew up and is the city he considers home.
He is no stranger to having to move for work, he said - indeed, he moved to Waipā for his rowing career.
The fact he lived outside Tauranga had not been an issue on the campaign trail, he said.
"People are curious as to what my intention is, but there are other mayoral candidates in the race who also live outside [Tauranga] and I think people accept what my links are to the city."
If elected mayor, Drysdale said he plans to move to Tauranga with his young family once the current school year is over.
