Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) mayoral candidates in Kaohsiung, Tainan, New Taipei, Taichung and Taoyuan registered for Taiwan's nine-in-one local elections on September 2. He Hsin-chun, who registered in Taichung with DPP legislative caucus whip Tsai Chi-chang, said former President 
Tsai Ing-wen had agreed to serve as honorary chair of her campaign headquarters, with Tsai Chi-chang as chair, the Liberty Times reported.
Who stood with the candidates? Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai accompanied Lai Jui-lung to the city election commission and said, in remarks reported by CNA, that "choosing the right person means walking the right path" and that Lai was residents' best choice. Council speaker Kang Yu-cheng and several DPP councillors also joined Lai, who a day earlier had formed a "Kaohsiung Grand Alliance" with 35 of the party's councillors and council candidates. Lai said the alliance would go all out to achieve "the mayor takes the baton, the council wins a majority." In Tainan, Chen Ting-fei, who said the city had never had a female mayor in its 400 years, registered alongside Mayor Huang Wei-che and the party's council candidates.
What are the candidates promising? Lai issued a "four firsts" declaration: positive campaigning, unity, professionalism and Kaohsiung first. Su Chiao-hui, registering with more than 30 council candidates, said New Taipei no longer needed to be a satellite city of Taipei and listed pledges including waived medical co-payments for children up to age six, a NT$50,000 denture subsidy and an urban renewal bureau, CNA reported. Chen Ting-fei, in remarks carried by the Liberty Times, urged the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Taiwan People's Party not to block a NT$5,000 monthly allowance for children up to 18 and a NT$10,000 universal cash payment, both already budgeted by the Executive Yuan. In Taoyuan, Huang Shih-chieh vowed to reverse three years of municipal stagnation, the Liberty Times reported, after registering alongside the party's council candidates.
How is the Kuomintang responding? KMT chair 
Cheng Li-wun, who had accompanied Hsinchu City's mayor to register for re-election that morning, said at the party's Central Standing Committee that registration marked the campaign's entry into a white-hot stage, CNA reported. Cheng said that if the whole party stayed united and carried its momentum through to polling day, it would deliver a fine report card. Tainan's KMT mayoral candidate, Hsieh Lung-chieh, reported for the new legislative session, saying his work as a legislator, including review of the 2027 central government budget, would not stop for the campaign.
Figures referenced: Tsai Ing-wen, Cheng Li-wun. — JudgeMarket.
