TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) led potential DPP Taipei mayoral candidate Puma Shen (沈伯洋) by more than 20 points in the latest survey on the race.
In a Taiwan Brain Trust poll released Thursday, Chiang received 52.9% support compared with Shen’s 29.7%, per FTNN. Shen led only in Datong District, while Chiang held advantages across the rest of Taipei.
In terms of favorability, 57.5% of respondents viewed Chiang favorably and 28.3% unfavorably. For Shen, 36.2% viewed him favorably while 38.9% viewed him unfavorably.
The survey also touched on recent reports of a possible rat infestation issue in Taipei City, per SETN. When asked which candidate was better suited to handle the issue, 39.4% chose Chiang and 22.4% chose Shen.
Commenting on the poll, National Taipei University professor Liu Jia-wei (劉嘉薇) said Chiang’s 58.8% approval rating for his governance suggested his appeal has expanded beyond the KMT base, per Liberty Times. Liu also noted that 24.9% of respondents had no opinion on Shen’s favorability, suggesting many Taipei residents may still be unfamiliar with him.
National Taiwan Normal University professor Tseng Kuan-chiu (曾冠球) said Shen’s support among DPP voters, at 67%, lagged behind Chiang’s 97% support among KMT voters, per Liberty Times. Tseng added that Chiang’s 66% support among voters aged 20 to 29 highlighted a potential structural weakness for Shen, who received 17.5% support in the same age group.
Discussing the rat infestation issue, Tseng said Chiang appeared to be shifting the matter from the political arena back into an administrative one. He added that while Chiang’s handling of the issue could help attract independent voters, it may also become a line of attack for his opponents.
The poll was conducted May 4-5 among 1,095 respondents and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.96 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.
Political commentator Huang Yang-ming (黃揚明) noted that Shen’s 29.7% support was lower than the 36.1% of respondents who identified as DPP supporters, per Storm Media. He suggested former President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), whose son Chen Chih-chung (陳致中) serves as CEO of the think tank, may have been signaling views on the DPP’s candidate selection by releasing the survey.
To counter Chiang, Shen’s campaign team has reportedly focused more on policy issues and sought to distance itself from backlash tied to the unsuccessful recall campaign against KMT lawmakers, per UDN. A DPP insider said the party may also try to attract TPP voters who supported former Taipei mayoral candidate Huang Shan-shan (黃珊珊) in the 2022 local election.
