Dunedin mayor Dave Cull thrashed his nearest challenger by 12,000 votes, voting figures reveal.
Because of the STV system, Dunedin's voting figures are released later than other other authorities so the margin of Mr Cull's victory was not immediately apparent.
The figures now released show he polled 18,446 votes while his nearest challenger Hilary Calvert could manage only 6429.
High-profile councillor Lee Vandervis was third with 5841 votes.
Among the other challengers Andrew Whiley polled 2946 votes, Aaron Hawkins 2900, Pete George 779, Olivier Lequex 503 and Kevin Dwyer 217.
In the council vote Ms Calvert received the highest number of first preference votes, but incumbent Richard Thomson came out on top once votes were redistributed under the STV system.
Four candidates - Ms Calvert and Crs Thomson, Jinty MacTavish and Cr Vandervis - were elected based on first preference votes alone, with no need for redistributed votes to get them across the line.
