2007 Keelung mayoral by-election

2007 Keelung mayoral by-election was held on 12 May 2007, three months after the death of incumbent mayor Hsu Tsai-li. Chang Tong-rong from the Kuomintang (KMT) defeated the other four candidates and held the mayorship for the party with 47% of votes.[1]

2007 Keelung mayoral by-election

← 2005 12 May 2007 (2007-05-12) 2009 →
 
Nominee Chang Tong-rong Liu Wen-hsiung Shih Shih-ming
Party Kuomintang Independent DPP
Popular vote 56,115 33,956 26,908
Percentage 47.44% 28.71% 22.75%

 
Nominee Chang Tung-hsien Chang Chao-chung
Party Independent Independent
Popular vote 1,105 206
Percentage 0.93% 0.17%

Mayor before election

Chen Chong-guan (Acting)
DPP

Elected Mayor

Chang Tong-rong
Kuomintang

Voting station staff permit for the by-election

Background

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One of the strongholds of Kuomintang, Keelung had been led by Hsu Tsai-li since 2001 after re-elected in 2005. However, Hsu was sentenced to 7 years in jail for corruption in 2006. Although resisting pressure for his resignation, Hsu was expelled from the party and recall petition was gaining momentum.

On 19 February 2007, Hsu died suddenly of blood poisoning, aged 60.[2] A by-election was therefore triggered to elect a new mayor for the remaining two-year term of office.[3] Hsu Ching-kun, Secretary General of the Government, became acting mayor, followed by appointment by Ministry of the Interior of former deputy mayor Chen Chong-guan as another acting mayor.[4]

Candidates

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Chang Tong-rong, Speaker of Keelung City Council and long-time City Councillor, was endorsed by the KMT after winning the opinion poll of the party. However, the split within the Pan-Blue Coalition and the failed co-operation between the Kuomintang and People First Party (PFP) prompted Liu Wen-hsiung, PFP member of the Legislative Yuan, to run as an independent.

 
Election advertisement of Shih Shih-ming

Another City Councillor Shih Shih-ming represented Democratic Progressive Party, then the ruling party in the central government, in the election, and was backed by party seniors including Chen Shui-bian, Frank Hsieh, and Su Tseng-chang during the campaign.[5]

Two other independents ran in the election also.

Result

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CandidatePartyVotes%
Chang Tong-rongKuomintang56,11547.44
Liu Wen-hsiungIndependent33,95628.71
Shih Shih-mingDemocratic Progressive Party26,90822.75
Chang Tung-hsienIndependent1,1050.93
Chang Chao-chungIndependent2060.17
Total118,290100.00
Valid votes118,29099.15
Invalid/blank votes1,0120.85
Total votes119,302100.00
Registered voters/turnout294,18440.55
Source: [6]

References

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  1. ^ "基市長補選 張通榮勝出". Liberty Times. 2007-05-13. Archived from the original on 2009-03-09. Retrieved 2008-03-24.
  2. ^ "許財利病逝 享年六十歲". CTS (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 2023-04-08.
  3. ^ "許財利驟逝 基市長512補選 - 焦點". Liberty Times (in Chinese (Taiwan)). 2007-02-20. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
  4. ^ "陳重光將代理基隆市長 3月上任". UDN. 2007-02-26.
  5. ^ 張, 謙俊 (2007-03-22). "施世明、張通賢登記參選". China Times. p. C2.
  6. ^ "基隆市長補選 張通榮勝出". 人間福報 (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 2023-04-08.