The incumbent, Julie Hardaker, ran against seven other candidates and was re-elected with 43.6% of the vote, a 2,911-vote majority over Ewan Wilson who won 35.5%.

[3] The Waikato Chamber of Commerce and the Hamilton branch of the Property Council of New Zealand hosted a debate between Hardaker, Wilson and Macpherson on 17 September.

The debate was chaired by the Property Council's vice-president Graham Dwyer and was attended by over 100 businesspeople, according to Kashka Tunstall of the Waikato Times.

[4] A Waikato Times opinion poll completed on 26 August 2013 had Hardaker at 20% support, Wilson 10% and Macpherson 6%, with 49% of voters undecided.

[6] On 28 September, the day that the Waikato Times' second poll was published, Macpherson withdrew from the race and asked his supporters to back Wilson.