TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) publicly endorsed DPP Legislator Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) in the party’s tightening mayoral primary.
Huang appeared at a campaign rally for Lin alongside Tainan City Council Deputy Speaker Lin Chih-chan (林志展) and several city councilors and borough chiefs, per Tai Sounds. Huang noted that much of Tainan’s central government budget support has been secured through Lin’s work in the legislature and urged supporters to stay home and respond to the DPP’s upcoming primary polling survey.
Huang said Lin is the only candidate capable of continuing President and former Tainan Mayor Lai Ching-te’s (賴清德) vision for the city. Huang and Lin are both members of the New Tide faction.
In an effort to ensure fairness in the primary, the DPP ordered all candidates to remove campaign materials containing images or audio of the president, vice president, premier, and members of the party’s election strategy committee, per ETtoday. Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) drew internal criticism after publicly backing Legislator Lin Tai-hua (林岱樺), a member of his Taiwan Normal Country Promotion Association faction, per UP Media.
Recent polling on the Tainan mayoral race showed DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) leading Lin Chun-hsien, per Storm Media. In hypothetical head-to-head matchups with potential Kuomintang candidate Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介), Chen led by 25 percentage points, while Lin led by 14 points.
Against another potential KMT contender, former Legislator Chen I-hsin (陳以信), both DPP candidates won comfortably, though Chen Ting-fei maintained an advantage. Chen Ting-fei led Lin by 5.3 points in voter support and by 8.1 percentage points in favorability.
The FTNN poll was conducted Dec. 8–9 among 1,207 respondents, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.82 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.
Responding to the poll, Lin said his own surveys show he has never lost to Hsieh and that the gap between them is widening, per TVBS. He alleged interference by KMT supporters in the DPP primary polling and said he enjoys stronger backing among core DPP voters than Chen.
Hsieh congratulated Lin on his recent polling performance but declined to comment on Lin’s gains among KMT and TPP supporters, per NOWNews.
A DPP insider said the poll suggested Chen’s support base has not been affected by recent internal criticism, per UP Media. A local political observer said Lin’s apparent growth among KMT and TPP supporters may reflect strategic voting intended to influence the DPP’s internal primary results.
The DPP insider added that Chen’s edge in favorability and support may indicate voter resistance to candidates who attack fellow party members. The observer noted that Tainan’s strongly pro-DPP electorate appears sensitive to outside interference and escalating internal disputes.
The DPP’s policy presentation for the Tainan mayoral primary is scheduled to be broadcast by SET on Dec. 27, per Newtalk.
