The Cook Islands Party (CIP) is on track for a fifth consecutive term in government, with preliminary results from the 2026 general election showing the governing party leading with 12 seats.
Caretaker Prime Minister and CIP leader Mark Brown said the early results indicated the party had a “strong mandate” to continue governing.
Brown retained his Takuvaine–Tutakimoa seat for a fifth consecutive term, securing 269 votes. Democratic Party candidate Davina Hina Te Raurea Joan Hosking-Ashford was second with 103 votes.
United Party leader Teariki Heather also secured a strong result, winning the Murienua constituency with 320 votes, more than twice the total recorded by the second-placed Cook Islands Party candidate, Nooroa Baker.
In an upset, Democratic Party leader and former Opposition Leader Tina Browne lost the Rakahanga seat to Cook Islands Party candidate Levi Hitarahera Teinaki by just three votes.
Teinaki secured 24 votes, compared with Browne’s 21.
The Cook Islands has 24 constituencies, with 10 on the main island of Rarotonga and 14 across the Pa Enua, or outer islands.
A party needs 13 seats to secure a majority and form government.
The 2026 election has 63 confirmed candidates, down from 71 candidates in the 2022 election. They include 49 men and 14 women.
Independents account for about 20 percent of the candidates, giving them the potential to determine who forms government if no party secures the 13 seats required for a majority.
The final outcome is still pending, with voting delayed in Nassau after bad weather prevented electoral officials from reaching the island.
Officials have postponed polling there until Thursday afternoon local time.
Key issues for voters in the election included the cost of living, water tariffs, seabed minerals and the Cook Islands’ foreign relationships.
The preliminary results will determine whether the Cook Islands Party can secure the numbers needed to return to government for a fifth consecutive term.
