Maverick ‘Pineapple’ frontrunner in Rocky mayoral race

As counting continues, Chris ‘Pineapple’ Hooper, Tony Williams and Russell Claus have firmed as the three lead candidates in the race to be Rockhampton mayor.

The hotly contested race for Rockhampton’s new Mayor is tightening in on three lead candidates, including maverick ‘Pineapple’ Hooper.

A result for the Rockhampton mayoral by-election could take days, with a record 17 candidates and almost half of all electors voting ahead of election day.

At 10pm on Saturday, 21,150 formal votes had been counted, with Tony Williams, Russell Claus and Chris ‘Pineapple’ Hooper the frontrunners.

Mr Williams leads the race with 22 per cent of the vote, followed by Mr Claus with 16 per cent and Mr Hooper with 14 per cent.

After two weeks campaigning in the hot Rockhampton sun, candidates were last night relieved their part in the race was over as polls closed at 6pm.

“Relieved and exhausted, it’s been a long hot campaign in the heat of the situation, not so much the campaigning but the weather,” Mr Williams said.

“I don’t want to be overconfident but it’ll be interesting to sit back and watch it unfold.”

The record-breaking by-election was in stark contrast to the March election, less than a year ago, when then-serving mayor Margaret Strelow had only Mr Hooper as an opponent.

The Central Queensland city has been without a Mayor since November, when Ms Strelow resigned amid misconduct allegations after almost a decade in the role.

Chris ‘Pineapple’ Hooper.

The barefooted Mr Hooper on Saturday night sat with friends outside his ‘Haveachat’ home.

He said that regardless of who earned the mayoral title, the attention he garnered as an object of the State Government’s attention made his campaign a success.

“We’ve sort of won anyway, and we’d encourage other people to stand up in their communities to do the same thing,” he said.

Mr Claus said the election would be “one of the most split votes that the community’s ever dealt with” and raised concerns over Mr Hooper’s possible mayorship.

“If they elect him (Pineapple), which is highly possible, what does that do for Rockhampton’s reputation?” Mr Claus said.

“He’s a nice bloke, and I’ll say that about a number of candidates, but that doesn’t mean he’s capable of running a complex business for the community.”

Electoral Commission of Queensland data showed 27,287 people had voted before January 23, representing 48.84 per cent of all electors.

The overwhelming response from voters at Rockhampton polling booths was there were “too many candidates”.

“If they were that keen they should have stood before,” Rockhampton local Peter Sisley said.

When asked if he felt confident in who he voted for, Mr Sisley said “yes”.

“I knew those who I thought would be worthwhile of being in the position of Mayor so I marked them accordingly,” he said.