When Eagle was five, his adoptive father ran for the Mt Eden Borough Council as a candidate for the Labour Party, a race in which he was ultimately unsuccessful.

[22] Labour leader Andrew Little, who lived in the electorate, was also considered as a potential candidate but after Little announced he was not intending to stand in the seat, Eagle confirmed he would seek the nomination.

[25] His decision to contest the election while continuing to hold office as deputy mayor was criticised by right-wing lobby group the Taxpayers' Union.

[26] Eagle's National Party opponent Christopher Finlayson commented on his rival in his 2022 memoir, writing: "Paul is a nice guy and I enjoyed being on the campaign trail with him.

[30] A list ranking of 47, lower than the previous election, was described by Eagle as a sign of the party's confidence in his ability to hold the seat.

During the 2020 Rongotai campaign Eagle was asked by fellow candidates Geoff Simmons and Nicole McKee to rule out running for the Wellington mayoralty in 2022, which he did after further questioning by journalists.

Before he had announced his candidacy, a taxpayer-funded survey asking his constituents for opinions on what should be Eagle's priorities as local MP was criticised as being used to inform a possible mayoral campaign.

[44] Immediately after the campaign launch, a disagreement with the council about the applicability and enforceability of its election signage policy was documented through local media.

[47] Tweets sent by Eagle seven years earlier likening council staff who were developing the Island Bay cycleway to the Gestapo also resurfaced.

On provisional results released on election day, Eagle was recorded as coming fourth behind Ray Chung although special votes counted later reversed their positions.

But it was less clear to Wellingtonians – and probably people watching outside of Wellington – what he was for.”[54] In August 2023, shortly after delivering his valedictory speech to Parliament, Eagle was appointed chief executive of the Chatham Islands Council.

The New Zealand Herald and Stuff reported that Eagle would be the first former Member of Parliament to serve as a local government chief executive.

[55][56] Media outlet Newsroom noted only a few days after Eagle's appointment as chief executive, that the Chatham Islands was uniquely exempted from the Labour Government's Three Waters horizontal infrastructure reforms.