Chou Chun-mi

Chou Chun-mi is the first woman to serve as magistrate of Pingtung in the county's more than 70 years. A former Bank of Taiwan employee, judge and lawyer who moved on to the Legislative Yuan, she beat the KMT's Su Ching-chuan by about 11,000 votes in 2022 to succeed fellow DPP member Pan Men-an. Her reputation rests mainly on her record in office: the first official document she signed as magistrate concerned long-term care policy, her administration has focused on care for all ages, from childcare to medical and long-term care, and she has worked to bring semiconductor supply-chain investment and a national rocket launch site to Pingtung; in Global Views Monthly's 2026 satisfaction survey of county and city leaders, her approval reached 72.9 percent, up 13.5 percentage points from her first year in office, earning her a "Progress Award." In 2026 the DPP nominated her for re-election and the KMT again drafted Su, a physician turned at-large legislator, and they are the only two candidates registered in the county; campaigning for Su in the south, KMT chair Cheng Li-wun called for "a united KMT, and a united Pingtung too," while the TPP, putting KMT–TPP cooperation first, did not field a candidate, turning the contest into a one-on-one blue-versus-green race. The DPP has governed Pingtung since 1997, but the last race was decided by only about 2.5 percentage points, and in an election seen as a "midterm exam" for the Lai Ching-te administration, whether her governing reputation turns into votes is the key to how she will be judged.