The Wairarapa seat

The NZ Herald reports:

The emergence of former MP Ron Mark as a candidate for New Zealand First has potentially thrown the race for the Wairarapa seat wide open, where the two other frontrunners are first-time candidates.

I love how the media talk up a seat as being wide open, when it has a 7,000+ majority.

Ron is a strong candidate for NZ First, and is a local Mayor. But Carterton is a small part of the electorate. Ron got elected Mayor in 2010 with around 2,000 votes. By comparison John Hayes in 2011 got almost 18,000 votes.