Molloy out of mayoral race

Leading Auckland mayoral candidate Leo Molloy has confirmed he is dropping out of the race. ‘‘It’s the right thing to do for the city,’’ he said in a surprise statement yesterday. Molloy said new polling results he received on Thursday night showed he had slipped to third place behind Wayne Brown. ‘‘I was mortified,’’ Molloy said yesterday, and that began the internal discussion that he should withdraw before midday, after which time his name would be on the ballot paper. The Curia poll for the Auckland Ratepayers

Alliance was the first in four polls where Molloy trailed Brown. It showed 45% of those asked were still undecided. Once the undecided were stripped out, support went to Efeso Collins at 22.3%, Brown 18.6%, Molloy 14.5%, Viv Beck 12.5%, Craig Lord 7.2, Ted Johnston 6.4% and Gary Brown 6.2%. Molloy would not say how much his campaign cost, but it was ‘‘a lot’’ and much of it was his own money.