Taiwan picks mayors and votes on bringing back nuclear power
On November 28, Taiwan elects 11,051 local officials, including the mayors of the 6 big cities and the heads of 16 counties, and votes on national referendum No. 22, which would abolish the "nuclear-free homeland" policy. The main contest is between President Lai Ching-te's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Kuomintang (KMT), which runs 4 of the 6 big cities.
Races with polls
The latest solid poll in each city: phone, probability sample and a client with no party ties. Where there is none, the column is blank, and the other polls appear in the next table, labelled.
| City | Current mayor | DPP | KMT | Latest solid poll |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taipei | Chiang Wan-an (KMT) · running | Puma Shen | Chiang Wan-an | TVBS, 31/10: DPP 42% · KMT 46% |
| New Taipei | Hou Yu-ih (KMT) · term-limited | Su Chiao-hui | Lee Szu-chuan | Focus Survey Research, 21/09: DPP 38.2% · KMT 37.1% |
| Taoyuan | Chang San-cheng (KMT) · running | Huang Shih-chieh | Chang San-cheng | no solid poll |
| Taichung | Lu Shiow-yen (KMT) · term-limited | Ho Hsin-chun | Johnny Chiang | ERA Survey, 4/10: DPP 31.3% · KMT 37.3% |
| Tainan | Huang Wei-che (DPP) · term-limited | Chen Ting-fei | Hsieh Lung-chieh | no solid poll |
| Kaohsiung | Chen Chi-mai (DPP) · not running | Lai Jui-lung | Ko Chih-en | United Daily News, 31/10: DPP 40% · KMT 33% |
| Hsinchu County | Yang Wen-ke (KMT) | Cheng Chao-fang | Hsu Hsin-ying | ERA Survey, 18/09: DPP 35.1% · KMT 28.7% |
| Keelung | George Hsieh (KMT) | Tung Tzu-wei | George Hsieh | Dadi Survey, 21/10: DPP 37% · KMT 36.3% |
| Yilan County | Lin Zi-miao (KMT) · head suspended since 2024 | Lin Kuo-chang | Wu Tsung-hsien | no polls |
| Chiayi City | Huang Min-hui (KMT) | Wang Mei-hui | Chang Chi-kai | no polls |
| Changhua County | Wang Huei-mei (KMT) | Chen Su-yueh | Wei Ping-cheng | United Daily News, 15/10: DPP 32% · KMT 16% |
All polls since September
Caveated: online panel without a probability sample, automated interviews, or a client the press describes as aligned with a party. Partisan: commissioned by a party, a council caucus or a campaign. Figures checked in the pollster's or outlet's release.
| City | Pollster | Client | Fieldwork | DPP | KMT | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taipei | Wowo Tech | Taolüe Association | 1/11 | 52.6% | 35.3% | caveated |
| Taipei | ETtoday Poll Cloud | ETtoday | 1/11 | 40.7% | 52% | caveated |
| Taipei | TVBS | TVBS | 31/10 | 42% | 46% | solid |
| Taipei | United Daily News | United Daily News | 25/10 | 45% | 41% | solid |
| Taipei | ETtoday Poll Cloud | ETtoday | 25/10 | 41.1% | 48.6% | caveated |
| Taipei | Focus Survey Research | Z.Media | 19/10 | 42.8% | 39% | solid |
| Taipei | Dai Li-an / Biken Market Research | Xinmin Association | 16/10 | 50.3% | 33.3% | caveated |
| Taipei | TVBS | TVBS | 7/10 | 41% | 49% | solid |
| Taipei | Dai Li-an / Biken Market Research | Xinmin Association | 18/09 | 40.5% | 41.7% | caveated |
| New Taipei | Dai Li-an / Biken Market Research | Xinmin Association | 8/10 | 43.1% | 30% | caveated |
| New Taipei | TVBS | KMT caucus, New Taipei | 3/10 | 35.9% | 42.6% | partisan |
| New Taipei | Focus Survey Research | DPP caucus, New Taipei | 1/10 | 39.1% | 34.5% | partisan |
| New Taipei | Focus Survey Research | Z.Media | 21/09 | 38.2% | 37.1% | solid |
| Taoyuan | Taiwan Brain Trust | Taiwan Brain Trust | 17/09 | 25.9% | 47% | caveated |
| Taichung | Fo Guang University | KMT caucus, Taichung | 31/10 | 28.1% | 38.3% | partisan |
| Taichung | Shih Hsin University | KMT caucus, Taichung | 16/10 | 28.7% | 39.8% | partisan |
| Taichung | Xunzheng Polling | pro-Lai Ching-te support group | 6/10 | 32.4% | 34.3% | partisan |
| Taichung | ERA Survey | ERA TV | 4/10 | 31.3% | 37.3% | solid |
| Taichung | TVBS | KMT caucus, Taichung | 11/09 | 32.5% | 45.1% | partisan |
| Tainan | Taiwan Brain Trust | Ketagalan Foundation | 15/10 | 59.4% | 22.6% | caveated |
| Kaohsiung | United Daily News | United Daily News | 31/10 | 40% | 33% | solid |
| Kaohsiung | ETtoday Poll Cloud | ETtoday | 25/10 | 43.2% | 43.1% | caveated |
| Kaohsiung | Quanfangwei + NTU panel | Fengcan Media | 21/10 | 47.8% | 27.4% | caveated |
| Hsinchu County | Key Survey | funding reported inconsistently | 26/10 | 37.7% | 44.1% | caveated |
| Hsinchu County | ERA Survey | ERA TV | 18/09 | 35.1% | 28.7% | solid |
| Keelung | Dadi Survey | Mirror News | 21/10 | 37% | 36.3% | solid |
| Keelung | Yuqing Marketing | George Hsieh (KMT) campaign | 18/10 | 33.2% | 40.5% | partisan |
| Keelung | Gongxinli Polling | KMT Keelung chapter | 16/10 | 35.7% | 41.3% | partisan |
| Keelung | Trend Survey | KMT Keelung chapter | 9/10 | 38.3% | 42.9% | partisan |
| Keelung | Focus Survey Research | TaroNews | 21/09 | 34.2% | 38% | solid |
| Changhua County | United Daily News | United Daily News | 15/10 | 32% | 16% | solid |
Referendum No. 22: nuclear power
The question (our translation): "Do you support the government using nuclear power to revitalise the economy, abolishing the nuclear-free homeland energy policy?" Put forward by the Legislative Yuan, at the KMT's initiative.
It passes if yes beats no and reaches 25% of the whole referendum electorate, which votes from age 18 on a roll separate from the local election. On the 2025 electorate, that is about 5 million yes votes. President Lai urges neither a yes nor a no vote.
No probability-sample poll published since August asks the referendum question or about voting in it. The latest one measuring attitudes, by My-Formosa in August, had 60.7% for continuing with nuclear power and 22.5% for the nuclear-free homeland.
Previous nuclear referendums
| Referendum | Yes (valid votes) | Yes over electorate | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 16, 2018: repeal the plant shutdown deadline | 59.5% | 29.8% | passed |
| No. 17, 2021: restart the Lungmen plant | 47.2% | 19.2% | rejected |
| No. 21, 2025: keep Maanshan running | 74.2% | 21.7% | failed on the quorum |
Results
Polls close at 4 PM on Saturday, Nov 28, in Taiwan: 3 AM in Washington, DC. Counting is done by hand, station by station, and the Central Election Commission (CEC) publishes results the same night.
Data checked on 02/11/2026. Dates, candidates, rules and past results: CEC. Polls: each pollster or outlet, linked. CEC data licence: Open Government Data License v1.