Chiayi County Magistrate Weng Chang-liang (翁章梁) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) declares victory in his reelection bid Saturday against his sole rival, former Kuomintang (KMT) Legislator-at-Large Wang Yu-min (王育敏).
Weng declared victory at around 7:30 p.m.
Weng finished with 171,777 votes, or 62.85 percent of the total, with Wang receiving 101,517 votes, or 37.15 percent, according to figures from the Central Election Commission (CEC).
Weng ran on a policy platform of building up Chiayi County with a focus on the agriculture and manufacturing sectors.
His vision has been supported by the DPP-led central government, which backed the county’s plan to expand an existing industrial park, set up a new science park, and a research and development center for drones using artificial intelligence technology.
The 57-year-old magistrate’s reelection means the DPP will hold the county for four more years, after taking it from the KMT in 2001.
In 2018, Weng won the post with 50.95 percent of the votes in a four-horse race, defeating former KMT lawmaker Wu Yu-jen (吳育仁, 29.54 percent) and then Deputy Magistrate Wu Fang-ming (吳芳銘, 17.89 percent), who quit the DPP to run for the seat.
The locally-born and raised Weng was one of the leaders of the Wild Lily student movement in 1990, which called for democratic reforms by then President Lee Teng-hui’s (李登輝) administration.
Others DPP politicians who took part at the time include Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦), former Minister of Culture Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) and Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁).
Weng held several DPP posts and ran several election campaigns before returning to Chiayi County in 2001, taking part in the campaign to help Chen Ming-wen (陳明文) win the magistrate seat.
He then worked in several posts in the county government before he won the DPP primary to run for Chiayi County magistrate in 2018.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel