Latest Yilan Poll Puts Lin Guozhang 9.8 Points Ahead of Wu Chung-hsien

Democratic Progressive Party candidate Lin Guozhang leads Kuomintang rival Wu Chung-hsien in the latest internal poll for the Yilan County magistrate election, with the campaign saying the gap has continued to widen.

The survey, commissioned by Lin’s campaign and conducted by the Shanshui company from Aug. 26 to 29, placed Lin at 37.8% support and Wu at 28%, a margin of 9.8 percentage points. Lin also led in perceived electability, 41.3% to 22.7%.

Among respondents certain to vote, Lin’s support rose to 47.3%, compared with 33% for Wu. The poll found strong party loyalty on both sides: 87% of DPP supporters backed Lin, while 77.6% of KMT supporters backed Wu. Among Taiwan People’s Party supporters, 67.7% supported Wu and 13.1% supported Lin.

Lin also led among independent voters, with 18.8% support compared with Wu’s 10.9%. His favorability stood at 46.4%, against Wu’s 40.4%, while unfavorable views measured 10.3% for Lin and 22.4% for Wu. Wu led only in name recognition, at 91.6% compared with Lin’s 83.4%. The campaign attributed that result partly to Wu sharing a name with entertainer Jacky Wu.

The poll recorded voting intentions among 84.5% of respondents, including 52.7% who said they would definitely vote and 31.8% who said they might. Lin’s campaign said the results matched two previous polls, but added that three months remained before the election and that the candidate still needed to keep visiting local communities and seek broader support.