The sitting mayor of North Shore City Andrew Williams polled fourth and actor/director Simon Prast fifth.

[4][5] Several candidates announced their intentions to run for mayor of Auckland before official nominations opened.

Because Len Brown is generally associated with Labour, and John Banks with National, some analysts remarked that the election was likely to involve more party politics than usual in Auckland.

[12] The two front-running candidates Brown and Banks were estimated to have spent around $1 million each on their campaigns, most from bigger donors.

[13] a Relative to their percentage win in their respective cities in 2007. b Based on 20 August 2010 close of roll figure of 961,536 enrolled electors.