Huang Shih-chieh

Huang Shih-chieh entered the Taoyuan mayoral race with low name recognition, so voters are getting to know him from an almost blank slate. He grew up in Bengang, in Taoyuan's Xinwu District, in a family that has farmed for generations, placed first in the bar examination and earned a master of laws from Columbia University; in 2014 he joined the Taoyuan city government as a counselor at Cheng Wen-tsan's invitation, and in 2020 he was elected to the Legislative Yuan. In 2024, when the DPP lost every one of Taoyuan's district legislative seats, he too lost his, by just over a thousand votes amid a split in the pan-green vote; he then became political deputy minister of justice and resigned in April 2026, after which the DPP drafted him for the race. That background shapes how he is seen: impressive credentials and an earnest image, but more a candidate placed by party headquarters than a local star with momentum of his own. Incumbent Simon Chang is seeking re-election on the strength of broad approval for his record, and even a September poll by the green-leaning New Taiwan National Policy Think Tank showed Huang trailing by about 21 percentage points, with fewer than a quarter of respondents aware that he was running. He is pitching himself as a mayor who is closer to the grassroots and quicker to respond than Chang, with pledges to overhaul the bus network, speed up MRT construction and secure a second medical center. His close ties to former mayor Cheng Wen-tsan, who is still on trial, remain the weak point his critics keep pressing.