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the race for the 2026 kaohsiung mayoral election has begun. according to the latest "possible candidates for the 2026 kaohsiung mayoral election" released by an agency on the island, the current democratic progressive party legislators lin daihua, lai ruilong, xu zhijie, chiu yiying, or the former head of the taiwan authorities' labor department, xu mingchun, no matter who is sent to participate in the election, will lose to the kuomintang legislator ko chien. ko chien modestly stated on the 19th that the strength of these five opponents should not be underestimated, but pan meng'an, secretary-general of the office of taiwan leader lai ching-te, who has not yet expressed his position, is a strong opponent.

ko chien-en admitted that she was a little surprised when she saw the poll, because when she ran for mayor of kaohsiung in 2022, her poll started at 15%, but the final vote result was 40%. but ko chien also said that support in southern taiwan is more difficult to measure, because they do not receive poll calls as often as people in northern taiwan, "it's just a matter of looking at the polls south of the zhuoshui river."

ko chien further analyzed that the first step in conducting a poll must be to measure popularity. lin daihua has been working in kaohsiung for a long time, and chiu yi-ying's style of doing things is even more well-known. ko chien himself once ran for mayor of kaohsiung, so his photo was printed on the ballot. voters have seen it and will have a better impression of him, so he has an advantage in terms of popularity in the entire kaohsiung area.

when ko chien-en was visiting the grassroots recently, she said, "taking care of kaohsiung is my mission." she said that she had moved her household registration to kaohsiung during the last election, and bought a property in gushan, kaohsiung last december, which was considered a return to her roots. she also said that kaohsiung is indeed a place worth investing in, with many improvements in hardware and software, but the kuomintang is in a weak position in kaohsiung and has no capital for optimism. therefore, every time she is asked how she views her opponents, she can only say that she respects them. after all, any place will be magnified and interpreted, so she has to be careful.

ko chien-en pointed out that the dpp will interpret the polls as an institutional effect. there are still more than two years before the election, and there is no integration yet. everyone is working hard in their constituencies. if the integration is completed, the dpp candidate's poll numbers will definitely improve. she emphasized that the dpp is very good at elections, and there is still a lot of room behind the poll numbers. they will not think that this is the result.

further analyzing the situation of the green camp's opponents, ko chien-en said that lai ruilong is a direct descendant of chen ju, the head of taiwan's supervisory agency, and xu zhijie was the mayor of fengshan. fengshan is the largest administrative district in kaohsiung, with a current population of about 370,000. xu zhijie visits very frequently and always sticks closely to kaohsiung mayor chen qimai. xu mingchun is also close to chen ju, while chiu yi-ying has revolutionary feelings for chen qimai and actually has a good relationship with lai qingde. "although these are all chen ju's system, are there conflicts with chen qimai's system? can chen ju's direct line get chen qimai's support? will chen qimai, who is the 'southern tyrant', buy in?"

ko chien-en said frankly that if the dpp has been in power for a long time, many things will happen. look at the 2022 green camp primary election for pingtung county mayor, pingtung county mayor zhou chunmi and legislatives zhuang ruixiong and zhong jiabin. did zhuang and zhong support zhou later? the dpp is very close to each other, and unity with the outside world is not necessarily possible. the factional barriers are clear, and different elections have shown that some are not as expected. this is human nature.

as for whether dpp legislator huang jie might run for mayor of kaohsiung, ko chien shook his head and denied it, because the green camp figures who have expressed their intention to run for the election are more experienced than huang jie, so can huang jie handle it? even if huang jie comes out, she will not be an option for the dpp from a practical point of view.

ko chien-en admitted that pan meng'an would be a strong opponent. two years ago, someone told her that pan meng'an carried lai ching-te's brotherhood, and lai ching-te was loyal to this brother.(lin jingxian, strait herald reporter in taiwan)