Chen Chi-mai Wins Kaohsiung Mayoral By-election

Chen Chi-mai of Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has won a mayoral by-election in the island's Kaohsiung city on Saturday to replace Han Kuo-yu of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT), who was removed after a recall vote in June.

Chen beat his rivals -- the KMT's Jane Lee and Wu Yi-jheng of the Taiwan People's Party -- by a wide margin.

According to the Kaohsiung City Election Commission, Chen received just over 70 percent of the votes, while Lee and Wu got around 26 and four percent of support respectively.

In his victory speech, Chen thanked his supporters and stressed he will focus on “four big priorities”, including industrial transformation, increasing job opportunities, investing in transportation infrastructure, and addressing air pollution.

Chen's victory put Kaohsiung back in the hands of the DPP, which had run the city for 20 years before Han Kuo-yu won a surprising victory in the 2018 mayoral election.

However, Han’s decision to take a leave of absence to seek the presidency just months after taking office drew heavy criticism, and resulted in his ouster.