Opinion: 'German' Nomination as Negative Asset, DPP's Dilemma on Whether to Replace Lai Ruey-lung

With the voting day for the 2026 'Nine-in-One' election on November 28th just four months away, Kaohsiung, once seen as a 'stronghold' for the green camp, is visibly losing its status. Kuomintang candidate Ke Chih-en leads Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Lai Ruey-lung by 46.8% to 42.0% in data released by ETtoday Poll Cloud on June 23rd, with the gap narrowing to 4.8 percentage points. An even earlier January poll by Eastern Television showed Ke Chih-en leading Lai Ruey-lung by 44.0% to 37.7%. While the latest poll commissioned by Shanzhai Media in July still shows Lai Ruey-lung leading by 8%, scholar Shen Zhengnan points out that the gap between Ke and Lai has narrowed by 8% in just two to three months, 'Lai Ruey-lung and the DPP should be worried now.'