Tai Tokerau by-election Candidates

RNZ reporting there are four people running against Hone:

The by-election to be held on 25 June was caused by the resignation of MP Hone Harawira.

Radio New Zealand understands that by late Tuesday morning five candidates had put their names forward.

The frontrunners are considered to be Mr Harawira, the Maori Party's candidate Solomon Tipene and Labour's Kelvin Davis.

Maori Party leaders and MPs arrived in Northland on Tuesday to launch their campaign for the seat, by erecting billboards in Whangarei.

Solomon Tipene, the King of Tonga look alike - right down to the befuddlement - is doing the kamikaze act for the Maori Party. The President will be happy that 64 year old Tipene will carry the flag for the party that he said was not interested in the votes of the young.
Kelvin Davis is a personable and sincere Labour candidate, but he has no killer instinct - he is a whimp compared to Hone. However Davis is why this will not be a total walk-over for him and Labour's machine and deploying of the parliamentary-paid MPs and staff will put a dent in the massive majority most expect.

I think I gave Hone about $1.20 as far as odds goes and I'll stick to that - after the Native Affairs poll comes out and the debate on 13 June it may change, but right now Hone Harawira has to be the hot favourite. He has been leading the agenda on policy as well as demonstrating leadership by putting his political arse back on the line so the momentum will be with him for some time yet.

The latest polls have the Mana Party registering for the first time, the next polls will start to tell how much of that is from the Maori Party. The choice of Solomon Tipene will reflect in the polls as the focus will be on his performance for the duration of the by-election campaign. Oh dear.