Failed Southland mayoral candidate Gary Tong says he wasn't behind the 'Tick Tong' campaign stickers plastered across the region during the local election.

The former mayor recontested the Southland district mayoralty in October after losing to incumbent Rob Scott in 2022.

Scott retained the mayoralty by a wide margin, securing 6,734 votes to Tong’s 1,418 votes.

But as recently as December, “Tick Tong” messaging could still be seen on a council rubbish drum in Riverton, where the former mayor lives.

Tong said he found out 500 stickers were created and appeared in around the region including Ōtautau and Te Anau.

"I don’t know the full group of people that did it, I know one or two of them, but I’m not going to let you know who they are,” Tong said.

“I just said ‘look, you can’t bloody do that’.”

Tong said the stickers had nothing to do with him and believed the group had copied an ad he’d run in the Otago Daily Times.

He said he “appreciated the bloody support” and admitted he had even pulled one off a Give Way sign.

Tong also recounted a comical interaction with rival Rob Scott over the stickers, which he thought was one of the ways he'd found out.

After seeing Scott in Lumsden, Tong sent him a txt.

The mayor messaged back a humorous reply saying he hoped Tong hadn’t put any stickers on his car.

“It wasn’t until a day or two later I found out that this group of people had been going all over Southland sticking these stickers everywhere.”

As for the rubbish drums in Riverton, they have since been removed.

A spokesperson for Southland District Council said council-owned assets, including rubbish bins, were not approved places for election advertising.

The removal deadline for election signage was midnight on 10 October, the spokesperson said.

Tong’s election spending declaration made no mention of stickers. It totaled $513.50 and included advertising with Allied Press and Winton Business Association.

The former mayor confirmed his political days were over and he was now working on a book.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air