KMT’s Cheng Li-wun on the ballot

The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Kaohsiung mayoral candidate, Legislator Ko Chih-en (柯志恩), said in an interview that if the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) loses the election, it would only have its choice of candidate to blame, and would not be due to the record of Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁).

Chen issued a simple reminder: “A vote for Ko means supporting KMT Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文).”

To prevent Chen’s high approval ratings from translating into an electoral asset for the DPP’s mayoral candidate, Legislator Lai Jui-lung (賴瑞隆), the KMT has been pursuing a strategy in which Ko praises Chen while taking jabs at Lai.

Remarkably, Ko’s line could be copied word for word in describing the Changhua County commissioner race as well: If the KMT loses, it could not be blamed on incumbent Wang Huei-mei (王惠美), but rather on Cheng’s hand-picked candidate to succeed her, Wei Ping-cheng (魏平政). Indeed, a vote for Wei in Changhua is to offer one’s support to Cheng.

Wang has repeatedly emphasized that the best way she can support the campaign and her party is to do her job well and work hard to fulfill her duties. That said, her record in office in Changhua is hardly comparable to that of Chen’s in Kaohsiung.

According to the Chinese-language magazine Global Views Monthly’s 2026 poll on public satisfaction with the performance of city mayors and county commissioners, Chen ranked first among the six special municipalities; Wang was last among central Taiwan’s five regions.

Wei has continued to play the respect card when it comes to Wang, undoubtedly hoping to piggy back off of her record. However, the county election ballot would ultimately bear Wei’s name and image, not Wang’s. Campaigning must return to the fundamentals and accept that the candidate’s qualities and efforts will determine the outcome.

KMT candidates running for township or city mayor, or county councilor positions across Changhua had hoped that the party’s county commissioner candidate, like a mother hen leading her chicks, would push the campaign forward and generate collective media exposure. Instead, it seems that the chicks have been left to lift the hen, with the candidates working to raise Wei’s profile while crossing their fingers that their own campaigns do not suffer too badly for it. It is a telling sign that campaign billboards featuring Wei alongside these candidates are virtually nowhere to be seen across Changhua County.

Since Cheng took over as KMT chairwoman, the Changhua county commissioner nomination has been one of the few cases she has taken a personal hand in. There is good reason to equate a vote for Wei with support for Cheng. One could go a step further and say that a vote for Wei also means support for Hsiao Ching-tien (蕭景田), the KMT’s Changhua County chapter director. It was Hsiao who recommended Wei to Cheng.

Hsiao had been convicted in a case involving the murder of a police officer, had alleged connections to the criminal underworld and was detained as part of the 1984 crackdown on gangs, known as Operation Clean Sweep. Now working behind the scenes within KMT ranks, he has become a defendant for the second time in a vote-buying case.

Looking back at the process that produced Wei’s nomination, Cheng, who has become something of an electoral liability, insisted on the party doing things her way. She forcibly placed Wang in the difficult position of serving as head of Wei’s campaign headquarters. With no promise of reward and certain to be blamed in the event of failure, Wang can only do her best to keep her distance. If Wei is defeated in next month’s elections, we can be sure that it is not Wang who is to blame.