Keshaan Te Waaka has won the Tāmaki nui-a-rua Māori ward seat on the Tararua District Council, unseating incumbent Naioma Chase in a close vote.

Ms Te Waaka (Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Porou, Te Atihaunui a Pāpārangi, Tonga, Croatia) said her decision to run came from a lack of representation she saw within council.

"The simplest way I can put it, living in this area pretty much my whole life and not seeing myself in council was super concerning, and I didn't want another generation to go through that," she said.

"We have very little Māori in our council, let alone rangatahi, let alone wāhine, so that was really my drive."

The 21-year-old from Woodville described the result as surreal.

"I wasn't too sure how to react really," she said.

"Like, how do you act in these sort of instances?

"I had never attended any sort of campaign event ever, so my first campaign experience was a meet-the-candidates event and the first one that I spoke at was actually in my hometown in Woodville."

During the campaign, Ms Te Waaka spoke with many rangatahi casually.

"When everyone found out I was [going] for council, the common kōrero amongst the rangatahi was that I was going for mayor, because that's the only position they recognise in council," she said.

Ms Te Waaka said the best way to involve young people in local decision-making was for council to meet them in their own spaces.

"Just going to where rangatahi already are, being at the marae, being at the sporting events, being in spaces that rangatahi see as important, that's the most important thing, she said.

"Then, second, more rangatahi in council - I think the more we start to see ourselves as leaders, the more we're naturally going to become engaged."

She pointed to Tamatha Paul and Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke as examples of rangatahi leading in politics.

"I'm new to all of this, so it's all going to be a challenge. New spaces are always challenging, especially unfamiliar spaces," she said.

"This is completely out of my comfort zone, although I love politics."

Ms Te Waaka said stepping into a space not built for her would be difficult but she was confident in the support of her whānau (family).

Her win came as Tararua voted to remove its Māori ward, meaning she will serve only one term before needing to stand in a general ward if she seeks re-election.

"I love my community and to think that that many people in the space that I've grown up in, the space that I love, don't see the value in the seat is very mamae," she said.

"However, I still don't believe that the seat is true Treaty partnership anyway.

"I think that it was a step towards Aotearoa hou and I think that my community voted for me, because they wanted me to see beyond the seat."

Ms Te Waaka said her focus now was on preparing rangatahi and the wider community for next year's general election and the 2028 local elections.

"The next mahi (work) is knuckling down for three years for our next plan, what's next for our community, because I refuse to leave that space empty. That's just not going to happen while I'm there."

Original reporting by RNZ