Lee Shu-chuan

Lee Shu-chuan is running for New Taipei mayor on a reputation earned not on the stage but on construction sites and in city government. Nicknamed "Uncle Chuan," the engineer-bureaucrat, who trained in electrical engineering at the Taipei Institute of Technology, spent more than 20 years in Taipei's public works system after his military service and then served as deputy mayor of New Taipei, Kaohsiung and Taipei under three KMT mayors, Eric Chu, Han Kuo-yu and Chiang Wan-an; in the public eye he is the pan-blue camp's archetypal steady administrator. His campaign cleared its biggest hurdle on April 28, 2026, when he beat TPP chairman Huang Kuo-chang in the KMT–TPP unity poll and became the two parties' sole joint candidate, running under the banner of "KMT–TPP joint governance" and averting a split in the opposition camp. His opponent, DPP legislator Su Chiao-hui, has a younger image and is the daughter of former premier Su Tseng-chang. Published polls diverge sharply: a survey conducted by TVBS and released in late July by the KMT caucus in the New Taipei City Council showed him leading by nearly 7 percentage points, while one released on October 13 by the Xinmin Cross-Strait Research Association showed Su ahead by 13 points. The open questions are whether an engineer's record can carry a city as large as New Taipei on its own, and whether TPP supporters will vote in line with their party's endorsement. The November 28 result will decide whether he is seen as a model of successful KMT–TPP cooperation or as a nomination that played it too safe.