Taipei mayor race tightens as KMT polls slip before Nov. 28 vote

Key facts

• KMT deputy secretary-general Lee Che-hua said the party assesses the overall election situation as stable.
• Lee said the DPP's 'Ocean Wave' campaign around Taipei candidate Puma Shen is largely a virtual movement.
• Lee said the KMT's own polling found pan-blue voters less willing to reveal their political preferences.
• KMT Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun said Changhua County was the party's toughest battleground, with Yilan also a challenge.
• Lee said Changhua tensions stemmed from a nomination dispute between Commissioner Wang Hui-mei and party leadership.

Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an was expected to cruise to reelection in Taiwan's local elections on Nov. 28, alongside Kuomintang veteran technocrat Lee Shu-chuan, the party's candidate in neighboring New Taipei, Nikkei Asia reported on November 7, 2026. With weeks to go, the two men have seen commanding leads in the polls slip away, the report said, sowing unease inside the main opposition party.

KMT deputy secretary-general and Organizational Development Committee head Lee Che-hua said the party would stick to mobilizing its core supporters while reaching out to undecided voters before the vote, according to the Taipei Times. He said the 'Ocean Wave' campaign built around DPP Taipei mayoral candidate Puma Shen makes effective use of digital tools and online communities but remains largely a virtual movement whose impact might not translate into votes.

Lee said the KMT's own polling found a decline in pan-blue voters' willingness to reveal their political preferences, producing greater polling discrepancies than usual, and that the party assesses the overall election situation as stable. KMT Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun said Changhua County was the party's toughest battleground among the regions it governs, with Yilan also a challenge, while the overall outlook was cautiously optimistic, the Taipei Times reported. Lee said the Changhua situation stemmed from disagreements between County Commissioner Wang Hui-mei and the party's central leadership over the nomination process.