The 1950 Wellington mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1950, elections were held for the Mayor of Wellington plus other local government positions including fifteen city councillors. The polling was conducted using the standard first-past-the-post electoral method.
Incumbent Mayor Will Appleton did not seek a third term. His future in the mayoralty beyond the term was subject to speculation following his selection as the National Party's candidate for the seat at the . He was replaced as the Citizens' Association mayoral candidate by his deputy, Robert Macalister. The Citizens' Association was in disarray following an embarrassing council ticket selection row with several incumbents dumped from the ticket standing as an independent ticket. The group consisting of Councillors Malcolm Galloway, Berkeley Dallard, Sandy Pope, Len Jacobsen issued a statement saying: "Our stand is a protest against an unwise and grossly unjust selection of a secret clique." All but Dallard were defeated.
The Wellington Labour Representation Committee (LRC) twice rejected recommendations from the Labour Party's national executive to not contest the mayoralty. The LRC carried an amendment that unless a full ticket (including a mayoral nomination) was to be fielded, the local-body elections would not be contested. Despite the amendment passing, the party had no obvious mayoral candidate to put forward. Local Labour member Gerald O'Brien suggested civil servant and debating club leader Frank Kitts should stand. Kitts, who had the limited political experience of contesting the electorate in , was reluctant but was persuaded to do so. Kitts was duly selected as the party's mayoral candidate. While Kitts did not win the mayoralty, he and five others were the first Labour candidates elected as councillors since the 'Nathan Incident' in 1941. Labour actually won a majority of the vote, however due to an uneven vote dispersal between their candidates, they failed to win a majority on the council.