Skin colour linked to election defeat

Failed Auckland mayoral hopeful Efeso Collins says his skin colour gave him a 20,000 vote deficit against winner Wayne Brown. In one of his first interviews since losing his tilt at the city’s top job in October, he spoke frankly about how he thought his race played into the mayoral campaign. Collins, who is of Samoan and Tokelauan descent, said research showed early on that voters were going to judge him negatively on race. He would go on to lose the October 8 election to Brown by 57,000 votes. ‘‘Some of our research groups came back and told us quite clearly that one of the biggest issues I would face is the colour of my skin,’’ he said. ‘‘For some people, a tall brown man represents something that makes them very uncomfortable.’’