Chen, representing the Democratic Progressive Party, saw off a challenge four years ago from then independent Yang and the Kuomintang candidate Huang Chau-shun. But this time Yang has the KMT’s endorsement and is expected to turn in a stronger performance.
Yang, the last magistrate of Kaohsiung County before the municipality merged with Kaohsiung City in 2010, is a former member of the DPP. After failing to win the party’s candidacy for the Kaohsiung mayoral race the same year, he withdrew from the party and challenged Chen. Yang officially joined the KMT in 2013.
According to a poll conducted July 9-10 by local daily The China Times, if the election was held tomorrow, Chen would win 58.7 percent of the vote versus Yang’s 19.1 percent. The remainder is undecided or “did not know.” In terms of the final winner, Chen was picked by 65.3 percent and Yang 6.5 percent, while 28.2 percent “did not know.”
The poll was carried out using randomly selected phone numbers registered in Kaohsiung, with a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error at plus or minus 3.4 percent.
Chen, a former Council of Labor Affairs minister from 2000 to 2005, became Kaohsiung mayor in 2006, defeating KMT candidate Huang Jun-ying by 1,120 votes. Her popularity has since grown on the back of the successful 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung and ongoing urban renewal programs.
Election watchers expect Chen to maintain a lead in the polls going into the Nov. 29 contest. (YHC-JSM)
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