Manukau Mayor Len Brown leads Auckland City Mayor John Banks in the race to be the proposed Super City's first mayor, according to a new poll.
The UMR Research head-to-head poll, which surveyed 482 Aucklanders, showed Mr Brown had 35 percent support, slightly ahead of Mr Banks on 34 percent.
UMR Research spokesman Gavin White said the poll showed Mr Brown had strong support in South Auckland and with older voters, while Mr Banks was more popular with younger voters.
Mr Banks told the New Zealand Herald he thought the poll result was interesting.
"Len Brown would be a very attractive candidate for the centre-left. He is someone I like and someone I respect and I wouldn't take his candidacy lightly," Mr Banks said.
The Government has introduced a bill to Parliament which provides for a single authority to govern Auckland from November 1, 2010.
Members of a transition agency to oversee the process have been announced.
Results were based on questions to a representative sample of 482 Auckland residents in two surveys from June 18-22 and July 2-6.
The margin of error was plus or minus 4.5 percent.
