With local elections drawing closer and closer, speculations as to which candidates will run where are popping up every day. One race that seems to constantly be in the media is the contest for Mayor of Taichung. Many now seem to believe that Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) could be the DPP’s candidate to take on the incumbent Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕).
Tsai is currently the Vice President of the Legislative Yuan, and the Commissioner of the CPBL (Taiwan’s professional baseball league), which might be a conflict of interest. Tsai has been mentioned in the conversation for Taichung before, though he seems to be getting more traction now. Interestingly enough, he actually has previously polled worse than another possible candidate, former Taichung Mayor Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), though Lin has already lost to Lu once for the same seat.
Lin has also been floated as a candidate to replace Ko Wen-je, who has now served two full terms as Mayor of Taiwan’s capital city. Whether or not Tsai runs in Taichung may depend on where Lin runs, and where Lin runs will likely depend on if current Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) runs in the Taipei mayoral race. Other factors may affect who runs and how successful they are in Taichung.
Recently a scandal at a nursery school has rocketed back into the headlines. The controversy has recently seen more evidence pointing to potential malpractice by the city government in Taichung and Lu has even personally apologized. There has been some positive news for the city government too recently such as their fight to end poverty tied to feminine hygiene products. However, with all of this happening so recently its hard to say if issues like this have or will shift opinions of voters at all, and with so much time left before the election there could be countless other issues that might raise or kneecap vote totals for either side.
For its part, the DPP has said that it is too early to say with any certainty who will be the candidate in Taichung. This is likely to be their answer until the candidates are finalized and the real races begin. This is probably wise as the campaign seasons are relatively short in Taiwan and parties don’t want to get ahead of themselves and waste resources or appear incompetent.
Time will tell who runs for the Mayor of Taichung for the DPP. Whoever it is, they will likely have an uphill battle, for the time being at least, as Lu has very strong polling on her side.