Broadcaster Marcus Lush has won the race for a seat in an Invercargill City Council by-election landslide.
Lush, a Newstalk ZB presenter who's lived in Southland for nearly 20 years, received 7003 out of 13,991 votes, with 95 percent of ballots counted.
"While special votes still need to be counted, as well as any votes dropped off to our ballot boxes today, the margin between the candidates is significant enough that we are confident Mr Lush will be your next councillor," Invercargill City Council deputy electoral officer Michael Morris said on Wednesday afternoon.
Lush had the highest profile of all nine candidates. Breakfast radio host Simon Edwards also ran for the seat and received the third most votes - 1090 - behind Lush and former councillor Wayne Harpur.
Last month, Lush told Newshub he was taking the campaign very seriously.
"Someone needs to get in there that's a calm unifier and bring the council together. Because people aren't happy with it."
The by-election came after Invercargill's Deputy Mayor quit in October, following an independent report slamming the council as dysfunctional and lacking in leadership.
According to the report, there was a "leadership void" at the council with Mayor Sir Tim Shadbolt struggling to perform his roles. Two independent observers have since been put in place to help steady the ship.
