In Taipei, voters elected incumbent KMT Mayor Hau Lung-bin over the DPP’s Su Tseng-chang. Hau garnered 793,101 votes, or 55.68 percent, to Su’s 623,808 votes, or 43.79 percent.
Former ROC Vice Premier Eric Li-luan Chu won Xinbei, defeating DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen with 1,115,536 votes or 52.61 percent. Tsai grabbed 1,004,900 votes, or 47.39 percent. In Taichung, sitting Mayor Jason Hu secured 730,284 votes, or 51.12 percent, beating DPP Secretary-General Su Jia-chyuan who captured a surprising 698,358 votes, or 48.88 percent.
In Tainan, DPP Legislator William Lai won 619,897 votes, or 60.41 percent, trumping KMT Legislator Kuo Tien-tsai, with 406,196 votes, or 39.59 percent. Sitting DPP Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu defeated KMT Legislator Huang Chao-shun and independent Yang Chiu-hsing by a wide margin, garnering 821,089 votes, or 52.8 percent. Huang and Yang garnered votes totaling 319,171 and 414,950, or 20.52 percent and 26.68 percent, respectively.
The DPP has for the first time seen its total vote surpass that of the KMT in local elections. Overall, it claimed 49.87 percent, 5.33 percent more than the ruling party.
“Even though we have won three mayoral seats, our total vote actually declined,” KMT Secretary-General King Pu-tsung said shortly after the tallies were declared. “We will re-examine ourselves and work on improving our performance in the future.”
In her concession speech, DPP Chairwoman Tsai said the party fought its campaign on a strong platform of policy and vision that forced the KMT to rethink its approach to key issues.
“We’ve been stressing initiatives such as social housing and urban renewal that will have a lasting impact,” she said. “I believe we succeeded in creating a new electoral culture.”
Voters also cast ballots for councilors in the five special municipalities. The KMT and DPP each won 130 seats, while independents claimed 45. The People First Party—formed by disgruntled KMT members in 2000—took four seats, the staunch pro-unification New Party three, and the Taiwan Solidarity Union two.
The mild and sunny weather seemed to help bring out voters. At 71.7 percent, the turnout is slightly higher than the 2006 municipal elections that saw 64.5 percent in Taipei and 67.9 percent in Kaohsiung. (JSM)
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