38 days out: Why NZ candidates are still knocking on doors
With 38 days to go until the election, candidates across New Zealand are door-knocking for votes.
RNZ's Checkpoint reported the nationwide push on 30 September. Candidates were out in suburbs across the country, knocking and hoping for a chat at the door. Checkpoint
In Auckland, ACT leader David Seymour was in Mission Bay to back James Christmas, ACT's new candidate for the Tamaki electorate — the local area that elects one MP to Parliament. In Greenhithe, National MP Cameron Brewer was walking his Upper Harbour electorate when RNZ joined him. RNZ
Those candidates told RNZ that a face-to-face talk beats advertising or social media for winning votes. Labour deputy leader Carmel Sepuloni told RNZ that "kanohi ki te kanohi", face-to-face, talks are still important and persuasive for New Zealanders.
Seymour told RNZ he has knocked on about 15,000 doors in his political career. On a good day, he said, about half the people answer. About one in four conversations goes well.
The stories were blunt. Seymour told RNZ he once ran from a fiercely barking dog, jumped a fence and tore his pants, then saw the dog was tiny. Sepuloni told RNZ she and a volunteer once walked past an open bedroom window and saw a resident putting his pants on. Brewer was in Greenhithe.
RNZ put the stories together in an article titled 'Naked residents and dangerous dogs: The perils of the political door-knock'.
At the National Party 2026 Campaign Launch, leader Christopher Luxon thanked supporters for knocking on doors, making calls and waving signs in the rain. National Party
The broader context here is familiar at electorate level. Door-knocking is slow and many doors stay shut, and leaders know it. Seymour's rule of thumb — half answer, one in four a hit on a good day — helps explain why parties still set aside volunteer time for it.
In my view, the calculation is about quality over quantity. A short talk on the doorstep can test a message, pick up a local concern and leave a mark that an ad cannot match.
Looking at what this means for the next five weeks, the question for campaign chairs is people and time. Electorate candidates need walkers for evenings and weekends. Volunteers need street lists, clear routes and a debrief. The payoff is uneven and hard to measure on election night, but ACT, Labour and National all keep treating kanohi ki te kanohi as core business. That persistence suggests the doorstep still holds weight in campaign headquarters, even as spending shifts elsewhere.
