Two neck-and-neck battles and the prospect of the province's first woman mayor since Dame Sukhi Turner are features of a series of Otago Daily Times polls conducted in rural Otago this week.
With a week of postal voting to go, Central Otago's incumbent Malcolm Macpherson holds a slender lead over Tony Lepper, with Jeff Hill close behind, while Clutha's Juno Hayes, seeking his fifth consecutive term, is only just edging out Hamish Anderson and Bryan Cadogan.
In Queenstown, Cr Vanessa van Uden is well clear of Simon Hayes, but in Waitaki, Alex Familton seems a good bet to retain the mayoral chains, being comfortably ahead of Gary Kircher.
Another feature of the four polls, which have margins of error between 9.3% and 11.4%, because of low sample sizes, was the high number of undecided voters. However, none of the leading candidates is taking the results for granted.
Dr Macpherson said the margins of error of such polls made it hard to tell the true picture, but the apparently close results could motivate people to vote.
"There's no doubt the polls affect voting patterns, and it will be interesting to see how it affects this one."
Mr Hayes said he knew the race would be "pretty close", but described the poll as "comforting". He believed there would be a higher voter turnout than in previous years and that the election came down to "big-picture stuff".
Cr van Uden said she was "delighted", but also mindful of a small sample size.
"There's a week to go - let's not count our chickens until the day."
Mr Familton said he planned to continue with the same level of campaigning, including door-knocking and meeting groups.
"I've taken nothing for granted and will campaign as I have been," he said.
Dame Sukhi Turner (1995-2004) was Otago's last (and only) woman mayor, while other women to hold the top job in the lower South Island in modern times include the late Eve Poole (Invercargill, 1983-1992), former Gore mayor Mary Ogg, Frana Cardno (Southland District mayor since 1992) and Janie Annear (seeking her third term in Timaru).
