Her title was pursued by her deputy, Justin Lester, councillors Jo Coughlan, Andy Foster, Helene Ritchie and Nicola Young, former mayor of Porirua City Nick Leggett and independent candidates Keith Johnson and Johnny Overton.

She ran as an independent candidate, but was a press secretary for Sir Don McKinnon (National) while he was serving as the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

[9] Dr Keith Johnson, an economic policy analyst and blogger from Island Bay,[10] announced his candidacy in April 2016.

[11] Johnson ran for the Southern Ward in 2010 with the Labour Party alongside Paul Eagle and in 2013 proposed to stand for mayor.

[15] Central to his launch campaign speech was a desire to put an end to the "bickering" and "palace politics" holding the Wellington City Council back, resolve transport issues including supporting twin tunnels to the airport, and to facilitate (not fund) a new Sports Museum and Virtual Reality Centre for Wellington.

[22] Helene Ritchie announced her candidacy for the mayoralty, her 11th term as councillor, and a position on the District Health Board on the day nominations for local elections opened.

[23] Days before the nominations closed, Ritchie opted to campaign only for the mayoralty, withdrawing from all other contests except for the Capital and Coast DHB.

[28] Whilst she has always stood as an independent during her mayoralty, she is generally associated with the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand, and The Dominion Post commented that "everything about her shouts 'Green'".