Fu Kun-chi

Public opinion of Fu Kun-chi is almost inseparable from the power he holds. He started out as a People First Party legislator, insisted on running for Hualien County magistrate in 2009 without the KMT's nomination and won after being expelled from the party, was later jailed twice after final convictions in stock-manipulation cases, was removed as magistrate in 2018 over one of those cases, and did not rejoin the KMT until 2021. Since 2024 he has been the KMT's legislative caucus whip, working with the TPP caucus to command a majority, and he has been on the front line of every fight, from the bills expanding the legislature's powers to cuts in the central government budget. Supporters value his ability to mobilize and deliver, while critics use the labels "King of Hualien" and "Fu dynasty" for the Hualien governed in turn by him and his wife, Magistrate Hsu Chen-wei. He held his seat in the July 2025 mass recall; after the Mataian River barrier lake overflowed and devastated Guangfu Township that September, he clashed fiercely with the central government over responsibility for disaster prevention and evacuation and was accused of shifting blame away from the county government. At the end of 2025 the KMT caucus scrapped a rule allowing its whip only one re-election, and he was retained in early 2026 and still runs the caucus. With Hsu's term ending this year, the KMT has nominated Ji'an Township Mayor Yu Shu-chen, who has the backing of Fu and his wife, for Hualien County magistrate; her opponents include County Council Speaker Chang Chun, who broke with the KMT in 2022 and for whom the DPP has stood aside this time, and county councilor and former Hualien City mayor Wei Chia-hsien, who also left the KMT in 2022. This three-way contest will be the key test of whether the Fu family's influence in Hualien can last.