Su Chiao-hui puts New Taipei City into a toss-up race, commentator says Taipei could also change on Nov. 28

Su Chiao-hui has turned New Taipei City's mayoral contest into a dead heat, according to veteran commentator Akio Yaita, after a campaign rally brought together the Democratic Progressive Party's leading figures.

Su held the opening ceremony for her campaign headquarters in Banqiao on the fifth. President Lai Ching-te, former President Tsai Ing-wen and Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai appeared in support. Despite the rain, a large crowd attended, creating what Yaita described as strong momentum.

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Giving someone else a chance

Yaita cited a recent poll by the Shimin Association that placed Su at 35.2%, narrowly ahead of Kuomintang candidate Lee Chuan-chiao at 34.7%. Other polls have shown Lee leading, but Yaita argued that Su, who had initially been viewed as the underdog, had made the contest evenly matched.

He identified three reasons for the shift. First, he said a mood for “giving someone else a chance” was forming after the KMT's long period of rule in New Taipei. Traffic, urban renewal and living conditions had left some residents dissatisfied, he said. Su's image as young and energetic offered a contrast with Lee, whom Yaita described as experienced but lacking a reformer image.

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The two cities could really see a different situation on Nov. 28.

Yaita also said Lee's political standing had weakened amid questions about his property and asset declarations. His explanations, he argued, had not removed doubts about his relationship with developers, while Lee had yet to present a policy that made a lasting impression on voters.

Finally, Yaita contrasted a DPP that could unite for important issues with a KMT marked by internal friction. He pointed to the absence of Lee alongside KMT chair Cheng Li-wun and the distance between Lee and New Taipei Mayor Hou You-yi, as well as repeated KMT obstruction and confrontation in the legislature. Yaita said a parallel support movement for DPP Taipei candidate Shen Po-yang was also developing, and that if both trends continued, the political picture in Taipei and New Taipei could look different on Nov. 28.

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They only want to make it impossible for the government to do anything and obstruct the country's development.