The latest candidate to stand for the Waiariki electorate believes he will further split the vote for the seat.
Tauranga iwi radio announcer Pat Spellman, who will stand for Independent MP Brendan Horan's New Zealand Independent Coalition, said he wanted to get the young out to the ballot boxes.
Mr Spellman said he had walked away from supporting the Labour Party to stand in Waiariki and that he would like to become prime minister.
The 23-year-old is known locally for campaigning for Tauranga to become a bilingual city and plans to chase the rangatahi [youth] vote. But the Ngati Raukawa man said his appeal did not stop with the young.
Mr Spellman will go head-to-head with Maori Party co-leader Te Ururoa Flavell, Annette Sykes of Internet Mana and Labour's Rawiri Waititi for the Waiariki electorate and acknowledged he would split the vote.
Mr Flavell, who holds the seat, welcomed the wero [challenge] and said politicians acknowledged the youth bloc was largely untapped.
