Manila-born Green MP Francisco Hernandez runs second as Labour's Rachel Brooking holds Dunedin
Labour's Rachel Brooking held Dunedin on the 7 November election-night count, with Manila-born Green list MP Francisco Hernandez second and Philippine-born National candidate Kristine Asuncion third; Hernandez said he was likely to return to Parliament.
Labour's Rachel Brooking held the Dunedin electorate on election night, 7 November, with Manila-born Green list MP Francisco Hernandez finishing second, the Otago Daily Times reported. At 11pm, Brooking had 15,290 votes, more than 8000 votes ahead of Hernandez.
With 95% of the votes counted, the ODT said, Hernandez had to be satisfied with a strong second in both the electorate and party votes. He called Brooking at around 8.15pm to concede, in a call she described as gracious and supportive.
Hernandez told the ODT that, despite losing the electorate race, he was pleased the Greens had put up a strong showing in Dunedin and nationally, meaning that he and Taieri Green candidate Scott Willis were likely to return to Parliament.
National candidate Kristine Asuncion finished third and New Zealand First's Kym McDonald-King fourth. In the party vote at 11pm, Labour had 11,060 votes in Dunedin, ahead of the Greens on 8683 and National on 5583.
Two candidates with Philippine roots
Hernandez was born in Manila in 1991, according to the Green Party's February 2026 candidate announcement, and entered Parliament on the Green Party list in 2024 following the retirement of James Shaw. The Green Party describes him as the first progressive Filipino-Kiwi MP.
Asuncion was born in the Philippines and moved to New Zealand in 2008, National's April 2026 candidate announcement said. She studied at the University of Otago, works as a dairy farmer, HR professional and business owner, and serves as Chairperson of the Filipino Dairy Workers of New Zealand.
Results are not final yet
These are preliminary figures. The Electoral Commission expects to publish the official results of the 2026 general election on Friday 27 November, once special votes have been checked and counted, Asian Insider reported.
Read the web like we doTurn any page into clean, ready-to-use data with FirecrawlKey facts
- At 11pm on election night, Rachel Brooking had 15,290 votes, more than 8000 ahead of Francisco Hernandez, the Otago Daily Times reported.
- Hernandez called Brooking at around 8.15pm to concede the Dunedin electorate.
- National's Dunedin candidate Kristine Asuncion, who finished third, was born in the Philippines and moved to New Zealand in 2008.
- The Electoral Commission expects to publish the official 2026 election results on Friday 27 November, once special votes are checked and counted.
Official sources
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