2026 Taiwanese local elections
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Local elections will be held in Taiwan on 28 November 2026 to elect county magistrates (city mayors), county (city) councilors, township mayors, township councilors and chiefs of villages (boroughs) in 6 municipalities and 16 counties (cities). Elected officials would serve a four-year term.
Background
The Democratic Progressive Party discussed candidate nomination procedures for the 2026 elections at the party congress held in June 2025.[1] In October 2025, the party named Wang Mei-hui its candidate for the Chiayi mayoralty, Chen Ying for the Taitung County magistracy, and Ho Hsin-chun for Mayor of Taichung.[2] The following month, the DPP formally nominated Su Chiao-hui for Mayor of New Taipei and Chen Pin-an for the Miaoli County magistracy.[3] In January 2026, the DPP held primaries for candidates contesting the Kaohsiung mayoralty, the Chiayi magistracy, and the Tainan mayoralty. Lai Jui-lung defeated fellow legislators Chiu Yi-ying, Hsu Chih-chieh, and Lin Tai-hua in Kaohsiung,[4][5] Tsai Yi-yu finished ahead of Chiayi County Councilor Huang Jung-li,[6] and Chen Ting-fei won the Tainan nomination against Lin Chun-hsien.[7][8] Additional candidates were named by the DPP's Central Executive Committee in April 2026. Huang Shih-chieh received support to run as Mayor of Taoyuan, and Chuang Ching-cheng was nominated for the Hsinchu mayoralty.[9]
On 9 September 2025, the New Power Party, Taiwan Statebuilding Party, Taiwan Obasang Political Equality Party and Green Party Taiwan announced that their leaders, Claire Wang, Wang Hsing-huan, Lin Shih-han, and Joyance Wang, respectively, had formed an electoral coalition for the local election.[10] The coalition was formally branded as the Taiwan Go Go Front in December 2025.[11] In January 2026, the Taiwan Go Go Front announced a candidate recruitment drive for all seats on the Taipei City Council.[12]
The Kuomintang held its leadership election in October 2025. During her campaign, the winning candidate Cheng Li-wun indicated she would continue the KMT–TPP coalition, respect local decisions about candidacies and back incumbents for reelection. If the Taiwan People's Party and the Kuomintang nominated candidates for the same local office, a cross-party primary would be held to determine the best candidate.[13] Public discussions about an electoral coalition between the two parties began in November 2025.[14] In December 2025, the Kuomintang selected Ko Chih-en as its candidate for the Kaohsiung mayoralty, named Hsieh Lung-chieh the mayoral candidate for Tainan, and backed Su Ching-chuan in Pingtung County. To replace the term-limited KMT magistrate of Taitung, Yao Ching-ling, the party chose Wu Hsiu-hua.[15][16] The Kuomintang nomination in Hualien County was contested by several party members and aligned independents who sought to end Fu Kun-chi's influence in the area.[17] The Kuomintang nominated Ji'an head Yu Shu-chen for the Hualien magistracy in March 2026, named Chen Yu-jen for Kinmen County, Chang Chia-chun for Yunlin County, Wu Tsung-hsien for Yilan County, Weng Shou-liang for Chiayi City and Lee Shu-chuan for New Taipei City.[18][19] Hsu Hsin-ying won the primary for the Hsinchu County magistracy against deputy county magistrate Chen Chien-hsien.[20]
On 28 December 2025, Taiwan People's Party chairman Huang Kuo-chang formally announced his candidacy for the New Taipei mayoralty.[21] In January 2026, the TPP published a white paper describing party polices for the 2026 elections.[22] Chen Wan-hui was named the TPP candidate for Yilan County Magistrate and Chang Chi-kai for the Chiayi mayoralty.[23] Huang suspended his New Taipei mayoral campaign in April 2026, as Lee Shu-chuan became the joint candidate of the KMT and TPP.[24][25]
On 14 October 2025, the National Security Bureau reported to the legislature that election security measures had entered the planning stage, earlier than in previous election cycles.[26] On 31 October 2025, the Central Election Commission formally scheduled the elections for 28 November 2026.[27] Candidate registration is scheduled from 31 August 2026 to 4 September 2026.[28]