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The 1995 Porirua mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. The elections were held for the role of Mayor of Porirua plus other local government positions including thirteen city councillors, also elected triennially. The polling was conducted using the standard first-past-the-post electoral method.
Background
The incumbent Mayor, John Burke, stood for a fifth term and was successful. He was opposed by two Plimmerton ward councillors Robert Shaw and Jenny Brash. Both split the vote against Burke polling over a thousand votes higher than Burke between them. Shaw was re-elected to the council, but Brash stood only for the mayoralty. The election was noted for high spending with Shaw spending $20,000 on his campaign causing Burke to spend more than he "would have preferred." In the Cannons Creek ward there was an error with some ballot papers which erroneously stated to vote for five candidates instead of four. There was a higher than normal number of informal votes as a result.