Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Kao Su-po (高思博) yesterday defeated his opponent in the KMT’s Tainan mayoral primary, setting the stage for a race for the mayoralty against Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) in the Nov. 24 nine-in-one elections.
In accordance with past practice, KMT Organizational Development Committee director Lee Che-hua (李哲華) announced Kao as the winner of the primary at a news conference in Taipei without disclosing the actual results of opinion polls conducted on Kao and former National University of Tainan president Huang Hsiu-shuang (黃秀霜).
“The poll results showed that Kao outperformed Huang, who expressed her gratitude that the primary was calm and filled with sincerity, and pledged to help campaign for Kao,” KMT Tainan Chapter director Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) said.
Photo: CNA
The residents of Tainan have longed for changes following 25 years of DPP governance, which has deteriorated the quality of living in the city, Hsieh said.
Kao, 49, is the son of former Taiwan Provincial Assembly speaker Kao Yu-jen (高育仁), who was Tainan County commissioner from 1973 to 1976 and is the father-in-law of New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫).
“The people of Tainan have grown so accustomed to a DPP mayor that they cannot even imagine what the city could become under a leader from a different party,” Kao Su-po said, adding that he, representing the new force of the KMT, was determined to bring Tainan more in line with its status as a special municipality.
The KMT is expected to formally nominate Kao Su-po and KMT Kaohsiung Chapter director Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) as its candidates for the Tainan and Kaohsiung mayoral elections respectively at a meeting of the KMT Central Standing Committee today.
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