| Election Name: | 1993 Invercargill mayoral by-election |
| Type: | Presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1992 Invercargill mayoral election |
| Previous Year: | 1992 |
| Next Election: | 1995 Invercargill mayoral election |
| Next Year: | 1995 |
| Election Date: | 20 March 1993 |
| Turnout: | 30,211 (79.45%) |
| Candidate1: | Tim Shadbolt |
| Party1: | Independent politician |
| Popular Vote1: | 10,078 |
| Percentage1: | 33.35 |
| Candidate2: | Bruce Pagan |
| Party2: | Independent politician |
| Popular Vote2: | 5,752 |
| Percentage2: | 19.03 |
| Candidate3: | Mark Winter |
| Party3: | Independent politician |
| Popular Vote3: | 4,795 |
| Percentage3: | 15.87 |
| Candidate4: | Mirek Cvigr |
| Party4: | Independent politician |
| Popular Vote4: | 3,915 |
| Percentage4: | 12.95 |
| Candidate5: | Dougal Soper |
| Party5: | Independent politician |
| Popular Vote5: | 1,972 |
| Percentage5: | 6.52 |
| Mayor | |
| Before Election: | Dougal Soper (acting) |
| After Election: | Tim Shadbolt |
The 1993 Invercargill mayoral by-election was held on 20 March 1993 as a result of the death of Mayor Eve Poole on Boxing Day the previous year.
Since losing the Waitemata City mayoralty in 1989, Tim Shadbolt had made several unsuccessful electoral runs, including 1992 mayoral elections in Auckland and Dunedin, in both of which he placed third.
The election attracted an unusually large pool of 14 candidates, including the incumbent deputy mayor and the two deputy mayors preceding him. Former Southland County Council chairman and father of candidate Janet Malloch,[1] Sir Erskine Bowmar, described it as "a bit of a joke".[2]
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Neil Boniface | Mirek Cvigr | Janet Malloch | Bruce Pagan | Geoff Piercy | Tim Shadbolt | Dougal Soper | Anne Stoddart | Mark Winter | Undecided | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Southland Times[3] | 1 March 1993 | 519 | ± 4.5% | 2% | 8.86% | 4.24% | 12.91% | 3.47% | align="center" | 21.39% | 7.13% | 3.47% | 6.94% | 22% | |
| The Southland Times[4] | 10 March 1993 | 615 | ± 4.5% | 1.6% | 8.9% | 3.4% | 16.1% | 2.4% | align="center" | 26.2% | 5.8% | 1.6% | 10.2% | 17% |
The following table gives the election results: